Paleontologists from Fundación Dinópolis have identified the first confirmed fossils of the genus Diplodocus found outside North America. The Spanish Diplodocus was a close relative of Diplodocus hallorum . Image credit: Carmelo López. “We are delighted with this discovery,” said Fundación Dinópolis Ph.D. student Sergio Sánchez Fenollosa. “It allows us to better understand Iberian Mesozoic ecosystems and the diversity of sauropod dinosaurs that inhabited the European Jurassic.” The Spanish Diplodocus lived roughly 150 million years ago near the end of the Jurassic period. The dinosaur stretched an estimated 25 m (82 feet), on par with its American relatives. The animal’s fossilized remains — 14 well-preserved tail vertebrae and several chevron bones — were unearthed at the La Tejería site near the city of El Castellar in the Spanish province of Teruel.…