Overview
- Researchers from Fundación Dinópolis recovered 14 well‑preserved tail vertebrae and several chevrons at the La Tejería site in El Castellar, Teruel and identified them as Diplodocus based on unique tail anatomy.
- Multiple phylogenetic tests, including maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference, place the Spanish specimen within the genus Diplodocus and close to Diplodocus hallorum.
- The specimen dates to about 150 million years ago and represents an animal roughly 25 meters long, comparable in size to known North American Diplodocus individuals.
- The peer‑reviewed paper reporting the identification appeared in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Tuesday and the fossils are on public display at the Museo Aragonés de Paleontología in Dinópolis for study and education.
- The discovery strengthens evidence that temporary land connections across the proto‑North Atlantic allowed Late Jurassic faunal exchange and it expands Iberia’s known record of giant sauropods for ongoing research.