Specimen YPM 1980, at Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, was first classified as Brontosaurus, then Apatosaurus excelsus, and in the current study is deemed Brontosaurus after all. Brontosaurus is one of the most recognizable of all prehistoric beasts, which is even more remarkable when you consider it only ever existed for a fleeting moment in history.
In 1903, only a couple decades after it was discovered, Brontosaurus was demoted. Leading scientists at the time decided that the fossils found in the western U.S. were merely a species within the genus Apatosaurus. Museum specimens were renamed, textbooks were rewritten, and Brontosaurus was relegated to history’s dust heap.
A study, taking into account recently discovered specimens, claims to have set the record straight, establishing Brontosaurus as a scientifically valid genus once again.
Tracing Different Types of Sauropods
The research, led by Emanuel Tschopp at the Unversidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal, delves deep into anatomical details to investigate the evolutionary relationships of a large and important group of sauropods known as diplodocids.
