Named the Maxakalisaurus topai, of the Titanosauria group, it was 13 metres long with a large body, long tail and neck and a relatively small head. It weighed about nine tonnes.
"Among its specific traits are some peculiarities that we found in the vertebrae, especially a protuberating sacral vertebra ... It also has teeth with carinae (ridges), which we think served to better process the food," researcher Alexander Kellner said.
The fossils date back to the Late Cretaceous period and some of the bones have teeth marks on them, which has led scientists to believe that their specimen was devoured by a carnivorous dinosaur after its death.
Palaeontologists found the bones near a place called Serra da Boa Vista, in Minas Gerais, during excavations next to a highway between 1998 and 2002 but it took some time for the scientists to categorise the species and reconstruct a skeleton.
Its species name, Maxakalisaurus topai, derives from an Indian tribe, Maxakali, which lives in the area. Topa is a divinity that the tribe worships. It is a custom in Brazil to give native Indian names to palaeontologic finds.
Important relative
Maxakalisaurus topai is an extremely important dinosaur because experts believe it is closely related to a highly evolved group of dinosaurs, called the Saltasaurinae.
Fossils of the Saltasurinae, which lived about 70 million years ago, have so far only been found in Argentina. Some scientists believe that a land connection still existed between what are now South America, Antarctica, India and possibly Australia until about 70 million years ago.
A reconstructed skeleton of Maxakalisaurus topai is in the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.