Redeeming Littlefoot: New Fossil Analysis Makes the Case for Brontosaurus

In what may be the next best thing to Pluto’s reinstatement as a planet, new fossil analysis suggests that Brontosaurus — the iconic dinosaur discounted as an erroneous duplicate name for its monophyletic buddy, Apatosaurus — is indeed a unique species. Take that, condescending museum docents who corrected me when I was seven years old!

The research initially sought clarify the relationships among the diplodocids, a family of gigantic long-necked sauropods. Scientists discovered enough differences between Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus to argue that they are seperate species. While most of the traits are anatomical subtleties, the main visual feature distinguishing Brontosaurus is its thinner neck.

Welcome back, “thunder lizard”! In the primordial swamp of our hearts, you never left.

Paleontologist and “Bone Wars” rival Othniel Charles Marsh named both creatures in the 1870s, but in 1903 another paleontologist assessed that Marsh’s two specimens were in fact the same species. in keeping with the rules of taxonomic nomenclature, the scientific community kept the earlier name Apatosaurus. The change didn’t catch on with the public until the 1970s, by which time the name and image of Brontosaurus were firmly ingrained in the popular imagination.

Nothing is official yet: more conclusive research is needed before museums need to begin reprinting exhibit signs. But for those of us who spend childhood obsessed with dinosaurs, conducting sandbox “excavations” and watching The Land Before Time until the VHS tape wore out, the possible return of Brontosaurus feels like vindication. Science usually has the uncomfortable duty of disillusionment, challenging our comfortable facts and cherished mysteries. This new study is a refreshing reminder of science’s power to re-examine its own conclusions and, occasionally, redeem a slighted discovery.  I will be rooting for the resurrection of Brontosaurus (both in name and in flesh; arguably, the best way to resolve the species debate is to create some live sauropods and compare)!

Read more about the study at Scientific American and  Smithsonian Magazine, and compare them to a dissenting opinion in Time.