Paleontologists in Spain have identified fossil remains belonging to the dinosaur genus Diplodocus at a site in Teruel, providing the first confirmed evidence of the iconic long-necked dinosaur outside North America.

The discovery comes from La Tejería, in the municipality of El Castellar, where researchers from the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis have studied a partial tail preserved in Late Jurassic rocks dating to roughly 150 million years ago.

A first for Europe

Diplodocus is one of the best-known sauropod dinosaurs, famous for its long neck, elongated tail and relatively small head.

Until this discovery, confirmed fossils of the genus had been known from the Morrison Formation in North America. The Spanish material now extends the confirmed geographical range of Diplodocus to Europe.

The researchers describe the discovery as the first evidence of the genus outside North America and say it provides important new information about dinosaur distribution during the Late Jurassic.

Fourteen vertebrae preserve part of the tail

The specimen includes 14 caudal vertebrae from the middle and posterior sections of the tail, together with several chevrons.

Chevrons are bones that were attached to the underside of the caudal vertebrae and form part of the anatomical structure of the tail.

Some of the material was found in close association, allowing the researchers to study the arrangement and anatomical characteristics of the bones.

How scientists identified Diplodocus

The identification was not based simply on the location of the fossils.

Researchers compared the bones with previously described diplodocid specimens and examined features including the shape of the vertebrae and the structure of the chevrons.

The fossils display several characteristics associated with Diplodocus, including large pneumatic cavities, deep longitudinal grooves on the underside of the vertebrae, elongated vertebral centra without lateral ridges and distinctive bifurcated chevrons.

The team then used phylogenetic analyses to test the placement of the specimen within the diplodocid family. The analyses consistently placed the Spanish specimen within the Diplodocus genus.

Why it is called Diplodocus sp.

The scientists have deliberately stopped short of assigning the fossil to a specific species.

The available material comes from the middle and rear sections of the tail, and the researchers say it does not preserve enough unique anatomical characteristics to identify a particular Diplodocus species with confidence.

It is therefore formally referred to as Diplodocus sp., meaning that the genus is identified but the species remains undetermined.

The dinosaur may have been around 25 metres long

Alberto Cobos, director of the Fundación Dinópolis and a co-author of the study, estimates that the animal was approximately 25 metres in length.

That estimate refers to the complete dinosaur. Only part of its tail has been recovered, so the 25-metre figure is not a direct measurement of the fossil remains themselves.

The animal lived during the Late Jurassic, when the landscapes of what is now eastern Spain were very different from those seen today.

The fossils were found years ago

The scientific breakthrough has been published in 2026, but the fossils themselves were recovered over several excavation campaigns.

The La Tejería fossil site was discovered in 2008. Five caudal vertebrae were recovered that year.

Additional excavations in 2014 and 2015 produced another nine caudal vertebrae and several chevrons.

The material subsequently underwent detailed preparation, anatomical study and evolutionary analysis before the identification was formally published.

What the discovery says about prehistoric continents

One of the most important implications of the study concerns the movement of animals between Europe and North America.

Around 150 million years ago, the Atlantic Ocean was still in the process of opening, and the configuration of the continents was very different from today.

The researchers argue that their discovery provides strong evidence for episodes of faunal exchange between North America and Europe during the Late Jurassic.

They propose that changes in sea level may have created temporary opportunities for terrestrial animals to move between the two regions. The exact route and timing of any such dispersal, however, remain unknown.

Diplodocus joins other shared Jurassic dinosaurs

The Teruel discovery is particularly notable because other dinosaur genera are already known from Jurassic rocks on both sides of the Atlantic.

Diplodocus can now be added to that broader pattern alongside genera such as Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.

The finding therefore contributes to a growing body of evidence suggesting that dinosaur populations were capable of spreading between regions that are now separated by the Atlantic Ocean.

Teruel already has a major dinosaur record

The discovery adds another important sauropod to the fossil record of Teruel.

The province is already associated with giant dinosaurs including Turiasaurus and Losillasaurus, which belonged to different groups of sauropods.

Researchers say the new Diplodocus material provides further evidence for the diversity of giant herbivorous dinosaurs that inhabited the Iberian region during the Late Jurassic.

The original fossils are on display

The original Diplodocus fossils from El Castellar are housed at the Museo Aragonés de Paleontología at Dinópolis in Teruel.

Replicas of some of the bones have also been displayed in El Castellar, close to the location where the fossils were found.

The material therefore forms part of both the scientific study of European dinosaurs and the public palaeontological heritage of the region.

A discovery with wider implications

The importance of the Teruel specimen extends beyond the identification of another dinosaur.

Diplodocus had previously been known from North America, making its confirmed presence in Europe significant for understanding the geographical distribution of Jurassic dinosaurs.

The research also adds evidence to the idea that faunal exchange between North America and Europe occurred during the Late Jurassic, at a time when the early Atlantic was still developing.

For now, the Spanish animal remains Diplodocus sp. More complete fossils could eventually provide enough information to determine its species and shed further light on how closely European Diplodocus populations were related to their North American counterparts.

A Jurassic giant from Teruel

The fossil record from La Tejería has given scientists an important new piece of evidence in the history of Diplodocus.

Fourteen tail vertebrae and several chevrons may represent only part of one dinosaur, but they have been enough to establish that this famous genus was not confined to North America.

The discovery places Teruel at the centre of a new chapter in Diplodocus research and offers another glimpse into the interconnected dinosaur ecosystems of the Late Jurassic.