The scientists have decided to reinstate the iconic dinosaur ‘Brontosaurus’ as its own unique genus after more than 100 years of being wrongly classified under the genus Apatosaurus.
The genus Brontosaurus was believed by the scientist community as the Apatosaurus since 1903. But a recent exhaustive study by a group of paleontologists from the UK and Portugal has provided strong conclusive evidence supporting that the Brontosaurus is different from Apatosaurus and requires to be reinstated under its own distinct genus.
In 1903, the scientists have decided to put both Brontosaurus excelsus and Apatosaurus under the same genus, citing that the differences between the two were so minor.
As Apatosaurus the first to be named, it was used by the researchers under the rules of scientific naming.
During the new study, the researchers have shown that Brontosaurus was distinct from Apatosaurus.
Emanuel Tschopp, lead study author from Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal, said, “Our research would not have been possible at this level of detail 15 or more years ago. In fact, until very recently, the claim that Brontosaurus was the same as Apatosaurus was completely reasonable, based on the knowledge we had.”
The findings of the new study were published in the journal PeerJ.