Brontosaurus was formerly known as the Thunder Lizard. This is because 1903 had been mistakenly classified as Apatosaurus. After revealing “conclusive evidence”, British, Portuguese and Swiss palaeontologists declared that Brontosaurus was now a distinct species. Brontosaurus has been around since the beginning. Brontosaurus is a favourite dinosaur among children due to its unique name and size. Most children will try to draw Brontosaurus when asked to. 1903, It was determined that there were no significant differences between Brontosaurus excelsus (or Apatosaurus) and Brontosaurus (or both). Therefore, they should be placed in the same genera. Here is Brontosaurus today as it appears to be – with its Diplodocus-like head. (Credit to Davide Bonadonna Milan, Italy). According to scientific naming rules, you choose the first one, in this instance Apatosaurus. 1903, Brontosaurus wasn’t really extinct after that – it was just considered a species in the Apatosaurus Genus, Apatosaurus Excelsus. While palaeontologists believed that Brontosaurus was part of the Apatosaurus genus, all agree that the species excelsus is distinct from the others. Emanuel Tschopp, Octavio Mateus, from Portugal’s Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Roger Benson, from Oxford, have published their results in PeerJ. (citation below). They claim that Brontosaurus is a unique genus. Brontosaurus: A complex history. The Western United States was the site for many new fossil species and discoveries in the 1870s. Field crews excavated scores of new skeletons for the famous and influential palaeontologists Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) and Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897). Marsh and his crew found two large, partially skeletons from long-necked dinos. They then transported the skeletons to Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven. Marsh was there. Marsh named the first skeleton specimen Apatosaurus jax, the “deceptive Lizard”, after Ajax the mythological Greek hero. He named Brontosaurus excelsus the second skeleton specimen, the “noble thunderlizard”, two years later. Because neither of these skeletons had a skull to go with them, Marsh built one for Brontosaurus Excelsus. Like Apatosaurus or another long-necked dinosaur from the Western United States, Camarasaurus was also a large animal. It seemed natural to copy the Brontosaurus skull from Camarasaurus because their skeletons were similar. Later, however, it became clear that the reconstruction was incorrect. Soon after Marsh’s death in 1899,, an excavation team from Field Museum of Chicago found another skeleton that was similar to Apatosaurus jax and Brontosaurus excelsus. In several ways, the skeleton appeared intermediate. Because Brontosaurus excelsus was so similar to Apatosaurus jax, Palaeontologists decided that it would be better to consider them two distinct species within the same genus. Brontosaurus Excelsus was renamed Apatosaurus exaltesus and Brontosaurus became an invalid scientific name. The 1970s “Brontosaurus” received a humiliating defeat when scientists revealed that Apatosaurus wasn’t a distant relative to Camarasaurus but was actually related to Diplodocus who is yet another dinosaur from this area. Diplodocus was a horse-like, slender skull. Paleontologists believed that Apatosaurus, and hence ‘Brontosaurus had Diplodocus-like skulls. This is the way the incorrect, and popular myth that ‘Brontosaurus was an Apatosaurus without the right head’ emerged. Now, British, British, and Swiss scientists have proved convincingly, in almost 300 pages, that Brontosaurus was not an Apatosaurus. The Thunder Lizard has returned! Emanuel Tschopp (a Swiss citizen who conducted the research during his doctorate at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal) said that “our research wouldn’t have been possible at such a level 15 more years ago.” The claim that Brontosaurus was identical to Apatosaurus had been a reasonable assertion up until recently. This was based on what we knew. Recent discoveries of news fossils from dinosaurs like Brontosaurus or Apatosaurus has made it possible to reinvestigate the differences between the dinosaurs. Science isn’t clear on the difference between genera and species. Is this a sign that Brontosaurus’ return is purely a personal decision? Tschopp replied: “Not at any. Tschopp replied, “Not at all.” Roger Benson explained that the differences between Brontosaurus, Apatosaurus, and other closely related genera were not as large as those between them. They also showed more similarities than you would expect to find among species. The scientists concluded that it was possible today to revive Brontosaurus, a separate genus from Apatosaurus. Professor Mateus stated, “It is the best example of science working.” Hypotheses that are based upon fragmentary fossils can be overthrown by new discoveries, especially when they’re rooted in hypotheses. Benson. PeerJ. Publication 2015., April 7, 2007. DOI: 10.7717/peerj. 857
