Portugal is well-known for its collection of dinosaur fossils. In fact, the town of Lourinhã is well known as “Dinosaur Town.” Fossil hunters often scour the coast around Lourinha and find treasures. There are a number of sites around the country where fossils can be visited – usually ichnofossils or “trace fossils” (in Portuguese, icnofosseis) which are the fossilized record of an animal rather than the animal itself. Dinosaur footprints (in Portuguese, pegadas de dinossaurios) abound! (Many fossils are, of course, excavated and displayed in museums.)
Use the map below to browse or search among the various fossil sites. Clicking on a cluster (a coloured circle with a number in it) will zoom in and disperse the cluster. Highlighted map markers indicate sites that are described on this website. More posts are added as sites get visited. (If you know of a fossil location that should be added to the map, please let me know!)
Below the map is a list of all the fossil sites on our website …so far!