First Diplodocus discovered outside North America in Spain
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In Teruel, Spain, paleontologists with the Dinópolis Foundation identified the first remains of a Diplodocus dinosaur ever found outside of North America.
The discovery began in 2008 when a local resident alerted the team to bones at the La Tejería site. After eighteen years of excavation and laboratory work, researchers confirmed the bones belonged to a Diplodocus approximately 25 meters long that lived around 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period.
The find, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, challenges previous understandings of how these large herbivorous dinosaurs distributed themselves between North America and Europe. Alberto Cobos, director-gerente of the Dinópolis Foundation, explained the importance of the discovery, stating it is “the description and definition of the only Diplodocus that, for now, is known outside of the United States.” The team spent two years specifically studying the specimen after initially identifying it as belonging to the Diplodocus family.
Researchers determined the dinosaur’s identity through fourteen caudal vertebrae and several chevron bones, noting unique characteristics in the vertebrae’s elongated shape and deep grooves. The Diplodocus fossil is one of the most complete of its kind found in Europe, suggesting a land bridge once connected Newfoundland to the Iberian Peninsula, allowing for animal migration between the continents during the Jurassic period. The Dinópolis Foundation continues to excavate other sites in the Teruel province, having already recovered over 60,000 fossils.
