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The 'thunder lizard' returns! Scientists resurrect the Brontosaurus

It's official: the Brontosaurus is, in fact, its own genus of dinosaur, according to newly-published research.
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After much debate, a team of scientists have concluded that the Brontosaurus is its own genus of dinosaur. (dino.wiki / London Natural History Museum )
As It Happens6:40The 'thunder lizard' returns! Scientists resurrect the Brontosaurus

For years, just uttering the word 'Brontosaurus' could earn you a stern rebuke from paleontologists. Decades ago, scientists concluded that the dinosaur was just too similar to other long-necked dinosaurs to have its own genus. 

Now, researchers from Nova University in Lisbon have reversed course, concluding that Brontosaurus specimens are, in fact, different enough to have their own name.

Professor Paul Barrett is a senior dinosaur researcher at the Barrett Lab at the Natural History Museum in London. He spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off about the new research, published in the scientific journal, Peer-J.

"I think it will make a lot of children very happy," he said. "In fact, I think it will also make a lot of parents and grandparents very happy because it's a name that they're even more familiar with.

"I think a lot of people have a lot of affection for it."

An artist's rendition of the Brontosaurus, the iconic long-necked dinosaur that for over a century had been the subject of debate over whether or not it was the same species as the Apatosaurus. (Davide Bonadonna)

The scientists looked at dozens of skeletons and found that Brontosaurus actually had a thinner neck and was more slender than the related dinosaur, Apatosaurus. 

Quoted in the Guardian newspaper, University of Oxford researcher Roger Enson said, "The differences we found between Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus were at least as numerous as the ones between other closely related genera, and much more than what you normally find between species."

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