Skeletons and scares at Dino Park in one of the most fossil-rich regions in Europe

Eyes popping in astonishment, his mouth hanging mutely open, seven-year-old Joel approaches the four-metre-high monster and stands nose-to-nose with one of the deadliest killing machines the world has ever known. The full-scale Tyrannosaurus rex is just one of the prehistoric highlights on display at Portugal’s self-proclaimed “dinosaur capital”, a new theme park in one of the most fossil-rich regions in Europe. “We have 120 large-scale reproductions of 70 different species, spread over 10 hectares (24.7 acres),” Simao Mateus, Dino Park’s scientific director told AFP. Although only recently opened, the park sits in a part of Portugal long famous among palaeontologists for its extraordinary array of fossilised remains. The nearby town of Lourinha, an hour’s drive north of Lisbon, has been dinosaur-mad ever since the remains of a dozen of the creatures were discovered in the late 19th century. It already has a dino