Fourteen Teruel tail bones are the first confirmed Diplodocus outside North America
A Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology paper dated 14 September 2026 identifies 14 caudal vertebrae from La Tejería in El Castellar, Teruel, as Diplodocus, the first confirmed find of the genus outside North America. Sci.News says the animal was about 25 metres long and a close relative of Diplodocus hallorum, from about 150 million years ago. Until this specimen, confirmed Diplodocus had come from the Morrison Formation.
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Fourteen vertebrae, several chevrons
EurekAlert, summarising the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis team, reports 14 caudal vertebrae and several chevron bones about 150 million years old from an animal 25 m long. Anatomical marks include large pneumatic cavities in the vertebrae, deep longitudinal grooves on the underside of the tail bones, forked chevrons with medial fossae, and elongated vertebral centra without lateral ridges. Until this specimen, every confirmed Diplodocus had come from the Morrison Formation in the western United States. The authors read the placement as evidence of Late Jurassic dispersal across the proto-Atlantic during regressive phases.[1]
A close relative of Diplodocus hallorum
Sci.News reports palaeontologists from Fundación Dinópolis identified the first confirmed fossils of the genus outside North America at La Tejería near El Castellar. Ph.D. student Sergio Sánchez Fenollosa said the find helps map Iberian Mesozoic ecosystems and sauropod diversity. Managing director Alberto Cobos placed the 25 m animal among Teruel's giant Jurassic sauropods alongside Turiasaurus and Losillasaurus, which have very different characters from diplodocids. The team first noticed similarities with diplodocine sauropods, then a combination of features characteristic of Diplodocus species.[2]
Confirmed outside the Morrison Formation
EurekAlert's Morrison-only baseline and Sci.News's first-outside-North-America headline describe the same Teruel tail. The 14 vertebrae, the 25 m length and the La Tejería locality appear in both accounts. Separate origin hypotheses beyond the regressive-phase dispersal reading are flagged in the EurekAlert summary as still open.[1], [2]
