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Brontosaurus (bron-tuh-SAWR-us), meaning "thunder lizard" (from Greek brontē = thunder + sauros = lizard), is a currently deprecated genus of sauropod dinosaurs. The Brontosaurus was originally named by its discoverer Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879 and, although the specimen was identified as part of another species in the early twentieth century, the designation persisted as the official term in the literature until at least 1974. A 2015 paper[1] purports to identify sufficient unique characteristics in the original and subsequent specimens to reinstate them as part of a separate genus.[2]

The terms brontosaurus, brontosaurs and brontosaurians (no capital 'B'; no italics) are often used to refer to an infraorder of sauropods including genera such as Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus and Supersaurus, as well as Apatosaurus.

History

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Othniel Marsh, a Professor of Paleontology at Yale University who described and named an incomplete (and juvenile) skeleton of Apatosaurus ajax in 1877, announced the discovery of a far larger and more complete specimen — which, because of discrepancies including the size difference, Marsh incorrectly identified as belonging to an entirely new genus and dubbed Brontosaurus excelsus — two years later at Como Bluff Wyoming.

Brontosaurus skeleton by Othniel C. Marsh

To perfect his find — the largest dinosaur ever discovered at the time and nearly complete, lacking only a head, feet, and portions of the tail — for what was to be the first ever display of a sauropod skeleton, at Yale's Peabody Museum in 1905, Marsh added some feet he had discovered at the same quarry, a tail fabricated to appear as he believed it should, and what he apparently felt was the "correct" skull for the massive creature: not a delicate Diplodocus-style skull matching what was actually a large Apatosaurus skeleton, but instead a chimaera composed of "the biggest, thickest, strongest skull bones, lower jaws and tooth crowns from three different quarries", primarily those of Camarasaurus. (This "scientific sloppiness" is considered to be symptomatic of undue haste resulting from Marsh's notorious rivalry with Edward Drinker Cope, which would later become known as the "Bone Wars".)

In 1903 Elmer Riggs published a paper in Geological Series of the Field Columbian Museum which identified B. excelsus as an Apatosaur (ie. A. excelsus):

...In view of these facts the two genera may be regarded as synonymous. As the term "Apatosaurus" has priority, "Brontosaurus" will be regarded as a synonym.

Nevertheless, the mistake was perpetuated by conservative paleontologists and museum curators (who would in fact reverse a number of corrective identifications of Apatosaurus skulls over the years) until it was officially laid to rest in 1975 with the publication of a paper by John S. (“Jack”) McIntosh and David S. Bermanbase, based on twenty years of research review.

Despite this however, some paelontologists — most notably Robert Bakker — argue that A. ajax and A. excelsus are in fact sufficiently distinct that the latter continues to merit a separate genus. (In 1998 Bakker re-classified A. yahnahpin as the type-species for the new genus Eobrontosaurus.) This position was further advanced in April, 2015 by the publication of a paper entitled "A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda)" in the journal PeerJ, although it has yet to attain widespread acceptance in paleontology.

Differences from Apatosaurus

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Apart from its fabricated skull, it is notable that the ponderous Brontosaurs' traditional semi-aquatic lifestyle is no longer believed to have resembled that of the real-world Apatosaurs. No Apatosaurus skeleton has been found in an ancient body of water, nor were its feet suited to walking through marshy and muddy ground; and recent evidence (Bakker, Dinosaur Heresies) suggests that most sauropods actively avoided swampy terrain. Additionally, the gracile-skulled Apatosaurs, lacking the peg-like teeth of the bronto almost certainly used a gizzard to enrich their diets sufficient to allow them to move rapidly in herds, use their flexible tails in battle, and perhaps even to rear up on their hind legs to reach vegetation or to mate.

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The length of time taken for Marsh's misidentification to be brought to public notice meant that the Brontosaurus became one of the most famous of the dinosaurs, despite never having lived. In fact, "Brontosaurus" often appears as a synonym for Dinosaur (2.) itself.

As late at 1989, the U.S. Post Office issued four dinosaur stamps, Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Pteradon and Brontosaurus, for which it was accused, amongst other things, of "fostering scientific illiteracy." The Post Office defended itself (in Postal Bulletin 21744) thus:

Although now recognized by the scientific community as Apatosaurus, the name Brontosaurus was used for the stamp because it is more familiar to the general population.

Stephen Jay Gould supports this position in his essay "Bully for Brontosaurus" echoing Riggs' original argument that "Brontosaurus" is merely a synonym for "Apatosaurus". However, the heavy-headed creature has developed and continues to maintain an independent existence in the popular imagination; for example:

Film and Television

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Toys

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Music

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  • "Brontosaurus Stomp" (1960) was an Australian #10 hit for The Piltdown Men.
  • Proto-metal track "Brontosaurus" (1970) was a UK #7 hit for The Move.
  • "Brontosaurus" is also a song by ELO.

Other

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  • Sinclair Oil used a Brontosaurus as its logo for many years.
  • "9949 Brontosaurus" is an asteroid.
  • The Little Blue Brontosaurus (1983) is a children's book from Byron Preiss.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Emanuel Tschopp​, Octávio Mateus, Roger B.J. Benson, "A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda)", PeerJ, 07 April, 2015
  2. ^ "Nick Stockton, Scientists say it's time to reinstate the Brontosaurus", Wired, 07 April, 2015
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