[2] As a palaeobotanist, he was a supporter of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and showed the transformation of plant species in different eras.

In 1877, Darwin wrote a supportive letter to Saporta which stated that "your idea that dicotyledonous plants were not developed in force until sucking insects had been evolved seems to me a splendid one.

He was the author of the study of the fossil plants collected by Paul Choffat in the Portuguese Mesozoic, which made it possible to determine the age of the respective soils.

His work the discovery of dicotyledonous species in the Lower Cretaceous of Cercal (Ourém) stands out, suggesting that the origin of this group was in Portugal.

He often described numerous Mesozoic deposits for the first time, including Anadia, Paço (Sangalhos), Raposeira, Vacariça, Cabanas de Torres, Moita dos Ferreiros (Lourinhã), Buarcos (Figueira da Foz) and Alcântara (Lisbon).