2,000 volunteers join a painstaking effort to restore massive skeleton of prehistoric predator

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Volunteers armed with chisels, brushes and protective goggles chip away at rock encasing the bones of a massive prehistoric amphibian in a glass-walled laboratory on the ground floor of Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Centre.

On the other side of the wall, visitors watch the work unfold on the bones of the nearly six-meter (20-foot)-long skeleton. Children point with excitement while parents contemplate the creature the massive bones once belonged to.

The painstaking restoration is part of an unusual public science project. More than 2,000 volunteers are helping Polish scientists restore the skeleton of the Mastodonsaurus, a fearsome aquatic predator from around the dawn of the dinosaur age.

The work is meticulous. Bone must be separated from surrounding rock millimeter by millimeter with a pneumatic chisel, whose needle gently breaks away rock while ultraviolet light reveals where the bone ends and the surrounding rock begins.

The volunteers are managers, cleaners, tattoo artists — not geologists or paleontologists. They receive training and special protective gear, before they begin two-hour-long chiseling sessions under supervision.

“I imagine that those bones were lying underground for 240 million years and I am the first human on earth to touch them," said Tatyana Kozyk, the coordinator of the volunteer teams. “I'm still trying to wrap my head around this experience.”

One of the largest amphibians ever to exist, the Mastodonsaurus lived about 240 million years ago during the Middle Triassic, while the earliest dinosaurs were appearing but before they came to dominate Earth. It was an underwater ambush hunter, preying mainly on fish and smaller amphibians.

Scientists believe it could grow to nearly six meters (20 feet) in length. It had a broad, flat head, long jaws and sharp conical teeth, its appearance resembling a crocodile's, though it belonged to a different branch of the vertebrate family tree.

When the restoration is complete, it will be the largest exhibited in a museum anywhere in the world, said Tomasz Sulej, a paleontologist and professor at the Institute of Paleobiology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its skeleton weighs 1,300 kilograms (2,865 pounds).

Sulej and his colleague Wojciech Pawlak from the Faculty of Geology at the Warsaw University are credited with discovering the skeleton in southern Poland in 2023 and coming up with the idea to invite volunteers to help with its restoration.

Sulej says there are no other known Mastodonsaurus skeletons this large anywhere else in the world, and the discovery promises to help scientists learn more about the species.

“The structure of the body is different from what we knew so far," he said. "This is information that is completely new to the scientific world.”

Other Mastodonsaurus skeletons have been found elsewhere, including in Germany and Russia, Sulej said, but they are around 2 to 3 meters (6½ to 10 feet) long.

Dorota Serafin, a 51-year-old manager from Warsaw who volunteers for the project, said working with the skeleton of an ancient animal is an experience that is at the same time “relaxing and philosophical, even mystical.”

Serafin said she plans to return for other sessions and eventually bring her family to Copernicus when the restored skeleton is exhibited, which is expected to happen in October or November.

In addition to the startling experience of touching the remains of an animal that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, contact with the Mastodonsaurus offers an opportunity to reflect on the future, those involved in the project said.

The amphibian inhabited Earth’s waters after the largest known mass extinction and just before the dinosaurs appeared. As humanity contemplates the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change, Sulej says the story of the Mastodonsaurus offers some hope.

“The Mastodonsaurus lived after the great extinction, which shows one thing, that nature always manages,” Sulej said. “It's not true that humans can destroy life on this planet. Nature and life always find ways to survive.”

Scientist Tomasz Sulej, from the Institute of Paleobiology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, inspects the skeleton of a mastodonsaurus, a huge amphibian that walked the Earth 240 million years ago, at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Claudia Ciobanu)

Volunteer coordinator Tatyana Kozyk cleans the skeleton of a mastodonsaurus, a huge amphibian that walked the Earth 240 million years ago, at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Claudia Ciobanu)

Under the watchful eye of scientists, volunteers clean the skeleton of a mastodonsaurus, a huge amphibian that walked the Earth 240 million years ago, at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Claudia Ciobanu)

Under the watchful eye of scientists, volunteers clean the skeleton of a mastodonsaurus, a huge amphibian that walked the Earth 240 million years ago, at the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Claudia Ciobanu)

Leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, a far-right ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, and was reelected to a fourth term in Brazil's presidential runoff Sunday.

With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court said Lula held an unassailable lead. The announcement capped an evening of chaos at polling places following a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. That decision by a Supreme Court justice may trigger legal action by Bolsonaro.

The son of imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro bested Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round of voting earlier this month. More than 33 million of the nearly 160 million registered voters did not turn out.

The difference between the two candidates was stark. Bolsonaro and Lula have opposing ideological views on issues ranging from U.S.-Brazil relations and climate change to social welfare.

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Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who bested him by nearly 4.4 million votes Sunday, following a chaotic delay in poll closing times ordered by a Supreme Court justice.

Both Bolsonaro and Lula asked that polls remain open late after issues with public transportation and inclement weather in some parts of Brazil. The decision to keep polls open came three minutes before scheduled poll close; some polls got word after they’d closed and it’s unclear how many votes were cast in the extended hours.

Bolsonaro called the move to extend voting hours unprecedented — though both he and Lula made the request — and asked for the election results to be annulled, saying it was impossible to accept the results. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup following his defeat to Lula in 2022.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his gratitude to the Brazilian people and pledged to respect all Brazilians after he won reelection Sunday.

“No one is required to like the president-elect, but he must govern for everyone,” Lula said as he addressed supporters.

He also attacked Bolsonaro. “This was a defeat for denialism and lies,” he said.

Citing his age and political experience, he said: “I want to make a commitment: I will deliver the best term any president has ever served. I will dedicate myself 24 hours a day to making this the country that everyone dreams of.”

A video published by his campaign shows Lula celebrating with first lady Rosângela da Silva and allies after his runoff victory was confirmed by Brazil’s electoral court. Wearing star-shaped red glasses, he kissed his wife as a small cake appeared on a table. Lula will turn 81 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile hundreds of his supporters are arriving on Paulista Avenue, São Paulo’s main artery, to kick off celebrations into the night. Some supporters of Flávio Bolsonaro are nearby, which caused police to go to the region.

In Copacabana, two bars facing each other on a busy road filled with supporters of the opposing candidates watching the results.

As it became apparent the night was going in Lula’s favor, Bolsonaro supporters paid the bill and left the bar shaking their heads, as cries of “Olé olé olé ola Lula” rang out and supporters of the incumbent shouted and jumped around in joy.

Rodrigo Valentim, a 51-year-old businessman, said another Lula government would harm the economy.

“I don’t understand how people can vote for Lula,” he said. “The country is collapsing.”

A few meters away, Raquel Costa, who owns a small business, said she felt relief at Lula’s victory.

“Winning always feels good, but this isn’t about winning just for winning. This is about increased social justice, about how we look at ourselves and at the future,” she said.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was reelected Sunday in a result that provides relief to critics of U.S. President Donald Trump and keeps some distance between Latin America’s biggest economy and Washington.

With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court said the soon to be 81-year-old Lula held an unassailable lead. The announcement capped an evening of chaos at polling places across Brazil, following a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. That decision by a Supreme Court justice may trigger legal action by opponent Flávio Bolsonaro.

His triumph bucks a trend in Latin America where increasing numbers of right-of-center presidental candidates allied with Trump have been winning, further extending the United States’ influence in the region. Lula’s victory leaves Mexico and Brazil, Latin America’s two most populous nations, with left-of-center leaders. It also positions Latin America’s largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, to remain independent of the U.S., despite the pressure of increased tariffs imposed by Trump.

Brazilian Supreme Court Cristiano Zanin ruled shortly after the polls closed that voters nationwide would have another two hours to cast their ballots — at the request of both candidates.

Confusion reigned at many polling stations. Some had already shut down when the decision — made three minutes before poll close time — was relayed to them several minutes after they’d already shut down, and results were paused until the end of the two-hour window.

In Brasilia, volunteers who oversaw the vote count at a school debated whether they needed to stay after the announcement to extend voting, but most left 15 to 20 minutes after polls closed and they had given count information to electoral authorities. At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, the voting machines had already been switched off minutes after polls were set to close and couldn’t be turned back on.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s brother and a 42-year-old former lawmaker, spoke to supporters at a polling station in Miami, Florida.

“What we really need is freedom,” Eduardo Bolsonaro said, as he called for judicial reform. “Most of the people here are coming to vote to free Jair Bolsonaro ... we need to reform the judiciary, we need to free the political prisoners.”

Eduardo Bolsonaro was sentenced for lobbying to impose sanctions against members of the Brazilian government and implement higher tariffs on the country’s exports during the trial of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, for a coup attempt.

It is unclear whether Eduardo Bolsonaro cast a ballot. Pre-trial detainees can vote in elections, but those convicted with a final sentence cannot as their political rights are suspended.

Eduardo Bolsonaro’s trial has been finalized and earlier this month, Moraes issued a warrant for his arrest. Eduardo Bolsonaro has lived in the U.S. since 2025 and experts say it is unlikely he will be extradited.

With minutes to go before poll closing time, both presidential candidates are asking Brazil’s electoral court to extend voting hours in some cities. The request from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came after issues in nine states with buses that provide transportation to polls. Flávio Bolsonaro’s is due to heavy rains in the nation’s south. Polls were expected to close nationwide at 5 p.m.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Kássio Nunes, who also heads the country’s electoral court, told journalists in capital Brasilia that some cities are indeed experiencing bus shortages, but did not answer whether the voting hours will be extended. He did not address Bolsonaro’s request in his comments.

While leaving the White House on Sunday, President Donald Trump declined to endorse anyone in Brazil’s presidential election. “I don’t want to get into that,” he told reporters.

But the president added that his administration was tracking the race. “We are watching,” Trump said.

Brazilian newspapers are stressing that Sunday’s runoff between Lula and Bolsonaro will be a nail-biter, though Bolsonaro’s campaign is more optimistic after recent polls.

Folha de S.Paulo cited an analysis by its own pollster to say the election result is still open, but Lula will have to see his voters increase turnout to close the 2.2 million-vote gap between the two in the first round.

Rio de Janeiro-based O Globo, owned by Brazil’s biggest media company, reported that Bolsonaro, who was handpicked by his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, overcame initial fears in the right-wing camp that he would not be a competitive candidate because of recent corruption investigations involving him.

Brazil was sharply divided across its five main regions in the first round of the presidential election.

Flávio Bolsonaro won in three of the country’s five regions, but Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took the second most populous by wide margins. Bolsonaro won in the populous and rich Southeast, where Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states lie. They will be the key battlegrounds in Sunday's runoff.

Bolsonaro, 45, carried the agribusiness hub of the country’s Center-West and easily won in the South, which borders Uruguay and Argentina. Lula erased much of Bolsonaro’s gains by winning in the Northeast and also triumphed in the North, the region that includes the Amazon rainforest.

Luzia da Souza, who runs a bar in a middle-class neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, is a longtime supporter of incumbent Lula and identified herself as "a Black woman from the periphery.”

“Black people’s lives greatly improved during Lula’s terms,” she said, and blamed Congress — which is largely right-wing — for the slow pace of reform.

“A president doesn’t govern on his own,” da Souza said. “But Lula is a man of the people and he knows what it’s like to be poor. I find it impossible not to vote for him.”

Anderson Falcão, a 43-year-old journalist in Brasilia who sported a red shirt in support of Lula, said he worried about Bolsonaro’s long-term political vision, which he called “exclusionary.”

“It’s a project that harms the less fortunate, harms the worker, women, the forest, the Amazon,” he said.

Brazil’s left was caught off guard when Flávio Bolsonaro bested incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by over 2 million votes in Brazil’s first-round election.

Since then, it has made a clear bet on an unprecedented wave of digital activism and street protests to support Lula. The shift signals a turning point for the left, which has historically struggled to counter the far-right’s dominant online presence and savvy digital strategy.

Between the campaign’s launch on Aug. 16 and up to the first round, Lula and Bolsonaro had more or less the same number of interactions, according to data analytics company Bites. But since the beginning of the second round, the incumbent’s profiles received around 111 million interactions against Bolsonaro’s 31 million, it said.

Lula voted in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, where he began his political career as a union leader in the 1960s.

“I am thankful to the Brazilian people. What people did to me in recent days is something I cannot repay,” he said before casting his vote and holding Brazil’s flag in front of the cameras.

He said he was still emotional about Saturday’s demonstration of support from voters in São Paulo. “I don’t think Paulista Avenue had so many people in any political event.”

“It is a lot of generosity, a lot of care, a lot of love. I will be forever grateful,” Lula said.

First lady Rosângela da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and other allies accompanied Lula to the polling station.

Voting is mandatory for literate Brazilians aged 18 to 70. But that has never been a real consideration for nonvoters, who must either submit a formal justification online or at a polling station, or pay a small fine of less than $1.

More than 33 million people did not vote in the first round of the elections on Oct. 4. Some of those were hospitalized, living overseas or working outside their voting areas. And others just chose not to.

Unexcused absences in three consecutive elections freeze tax IDs, block nonvoters from applying to state jobs, hinders loans from state banks, and delays the issuance of passports. For those who don’t want to choose a candidate even when they show up, they can cast blank or null votes.

Fabianne Borges Santoro, a 45-year-old physiotherapist who lives in the neighborhood where Bolsonaro voted, said she voted for change.

“The Workers’ Party has been in power for a long time and the voice of the people is saying that we need change to see improvements in security and the cost of living,” she said, wearing a top featuring Brazil’s national colors, yellow and green. “Things are really expensive and taxes are too high.”

Santoro said she once voted for Lula’s party but now associates it with corruption, particularly after the so-called Operation Car Wash that started in 2014, when the Workers’ Party was in power and entangled dozens of politicians.

Roulen Azeredo, a 76-year-old army reservist, said he had always voted right. He also echoed the desire for a shift in the country’s direction.

“The current government did nothing,” said Azeredo, who hopes Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup, will be freed if the former president’s eldest son wins. “His imprisonment is a disgrace.”

Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro voted at a local school in Rio de Janeiro just after 8 a.m., accompanied by his wife, Fernanda Bolsonaro. Wearing a light yellow shirt, he smiled and waved to supporters waiting to see him in the rain.

“The time of real change has arrived,” Bolsonaro told journalists. “Brazil can’t go on another four years on its current trajectory.”

As Bolsonaro voted, supporters of the opposition candidate shouted “Lula, thief, your place is in prison,” while fans of the incumbent responded with clapping and the chant “Olé olé olé ola, Lula!” The two anthems are common in demonstrations.

In Brazil, voting is fully electronic — meaning votes are counted much more quickly than in some other countries.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. and will close at 5 p.m. Brasilia time (2000 GMT) in most of the country.

On the ballot: the presidential face-off between Lula and Bolsonaro and six gubernatorial races. Votes are tallied quickly because each ballot box calculates results locally and prints a paper summary. The encrypted data is transmitted via secure networks to the nation’s top electoral court in capital Brasilia, which aggregates and publishes the counts within hours.

The system has been in place since the 1990s with few questioning its efficiency. One of its critics is former President Bolsonaro.

Supporters of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, cheer as presidential runoff results are announced in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro react to presidential runoff results in Brasilia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Supporters of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrate after he won the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lucas Landau)

Voters line up to enter a polling station during the presidential runoff in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, waves after voting in the presidential runoff in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro makes the victory sign after voting in the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Soldiers stand guard during the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lucas Landau)

A voter stands at a polling station during a presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A voter stands at a polling station during a presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A man votes in the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A supporter of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, lines up at a polling station during a presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro makes the victory sign after voting in the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

A man wrapped in a Brazilian flag arrives to vote in the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Red T-shirts depicting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, and yellow T-shirts depicting opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro hang for sale outside a building ahead of Brazil's presidential runoff election in Autazes, Amazonas state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)

Supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, crowd Paulista Avenue as his campaign vehicle passes during his final campaign rally ahead of Brazil's presidential runoff election in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A supporter wears a mask of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, during his final campaign rally on Copacabana beach a day ahead of the presidential runoff election in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

FILE - Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, who is running for reelection, gestures as opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro stands beside him during a televised presidential debate one week before the runoff election in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)