Spanish researchers have found evidence for the first time that the diplodocus dinosaur also lived in Europe. This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
This is the first evidence that a dinosaur of the diplodocus genus has also lived outside of North America.
The information will be revealed Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology from a research article published in the scientific journal.
of the Dinopolis Foundation the research team found fossils in Teruel, eastern Spain, covering a total of 14 tail vertebrae and several bony prongs on the underside of the tail.
The remains of the dinosaur found in El Castellar were identified as belonging to the diplodocus genus based on skeletal and evolutionary analyses, writes the researcher Sergio Sánchez-Fenollosa in the article.
Based on the found fossils, researchers estimate that the Teruel specimen was about 25 meters long. It has lived in the late Jurassic period, estimated to be around 150 million years ago.
A drawing of a dinosaur of the genus Diplodocus.
Diplodocukselle a long neck and a long, whip-like tail tapering and thick legs were characteristic. It walked on four legs and probably ate ferns and tree leaves and needles.
The first diplodocus fossil was found in 1877 in Wyoming, USA, Reuters reports. Since then, several more fossils have been found in the United States.