GoKawiilPaleontologists from Fundación Dinópolis have identified the first confirmed fossils of the genus Diplodocus found outside North America.
“We are delighted with this discovery,” said Fundación Dinópolis Ph.D. student Sergio Sánchez Fenollosa.
“It allows us to better understand Iberian Mesozoic ecosystems and the diversity of sauropod dinosaurs that inhabited the European Jurassic.”
The Spanish Diplodocus lived roughly 150 million years ago near the end of the Jurassic period.
The dinosaur stretched an estimated 25 m (82 feet), on par with its American relatives.
The animal’s fossilized remains — 14 well-preserved tail vertebrae and several chevron bones — were unearthed at the La Tejería site near the city of El Castellar in the Spanish province of Teruel.
“The Diplodocus from El Castellar was approximately 25 m long, making it another of the giant sauropods of the Spanish Jurassic, alongside other sauropod dinosaurs from Teruel with characteristics very different from those of diplodocids, such as Turiasaurus and Losillasaurus, among others,” said Dr. Alberto Cobos, managing director of Fundación Dinópolis.
“It was an exciting and continuous process of seeing the pieces of the puzzle gradually fall into place.”
“From the early stages of the osteological study, we noticed strong similarities with several diplodocine sauropods.”
“As we looked more closely at the anatomy, we began to identify a combination of features characteristic of Diplodocus species.”
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