Brontosaurus (Photo : Reuters)
Brontosaurus is being brought back to the scene after stripping it off from the dinosaur line a century ago. The beast, long extinct, was considered unimportant in 1903 after being considered as too similar to those that are categorized under the Apatosaurus genus.
Apatosaurus, which literally means "deceptive lizard," was its first classification to point out to the smaller species, but has not been used for a hundred years.
Brontosaurus, once again, went through an exhaustive analysis with the use of its remains that were unearthed in 1870. The results of the study revealed that this long-necked, immense plant-eater is, after all, a dinosaur and will now be reinstated in its own unique genus.
Emanuel Tschopp, the lead paleontologist and author of the research, cited vital anatomical features. For instance, he said that Apatosaurus had wider neck and a bigger build than Brontosaurus. This dinosaur genus was as heavy as a 40-ton object. He said, "The differences between Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus are numerous enough to revive Brontosaurus as a separate genus from Apatosaurus."
Brontosaurus lived in the landmass that is now North America during the Jurassic Period, 150 years ago.
Roger B.J. Benson and Octavio Mateus, the other authors of the study, reviewed 81 long-necked dinosaur specimen for more than 400 anatomical characteristics. If the traits were deemed unique, at least 20%, from all other genus in the study, the dinosaur will be awarded its own categorization, the Wired reported. The bones of the Brontosaurus had specific traits enough to warrant the beast its own rightful name.
The findings of the study are published in Peer J journal.
