Study proves that Brontosaurus is a genre apart

Although one of the most famous dinosaurs, the giant brontosaurus was viewed by the scientific community as a classic case of misclassification. Since 1903, experts have believed that animals identified as brontosaurs actually belonged to the genus Apatosaurus, another huge prehistoric reptile.

Now, however, a study by Portuguese and British scientists has proved that brontosaurus is indeed distinct from apatosaurus, reestablishing its classification as its own unique genus. The 300-page work was published yesterday in PeerJ.

Brontosaurus - a name that means "thunder lizard" - was discovered in 1870, inhabited the planet about 150 million years ago and was about 30 tons. It was herbivorous and walked on all fours.

Since 1903, however, paleontologists have decided that the differences between their main species, Brontosaurus excelsus, and apatosaurus were so small that it would be more appropriate to classify them as belonging to one genus. And as apatosaurus was named before, its prevailed according to the rules of scientific nomenclature.

Researches

In recent years, several discoveries of reptiles similar to apatosaurus and brontosaurus have allowed scientists, through statistical approaches, to delve deeper into the differences between them. Thus, with a single study, experts refuted more than a century of research, "resurrecting" brontosaurus. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo .

By Fábio de Castro - Sao Paulo

Via InAbstract