The dinosaur in the picture is usually called Brontosaurus, and is considered one of the largest animals to ever walk on Earth. But the truth is that controversies and scientific developments have led to the long-necked dinosaur becoming extinct twice, and in recent years has been resurrected against all odds. We used ChatGPT to explain how this happened.
The story begins in 1879, when paleontologist Otniel Charles Marsh discovered in Wyoming, USA, the skeleton of a dinosaur with a long neck and tail. The skeleton, nicknamed Brontosaurus excelsus, has become the star of the Sauropod family – the giant vegetarian dinosaurs that are diagnosed as the largest terrestrial creatures in the history of our planet. This genus roamed Earth during the Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. However, in 1903, the plot took a turn when paleontologist Elmer Riggs argued that the Bruntosaurus skeleton was too similar to another dinosaur discovered by Marsh—Apatosaurus ajax—to warrant a separate classification.
The rules of scientific names preferred Apatosaurus, because it was the older name, so the name Brontosaurus was abolished. For more than a century, this name was considered by scientists to be a sign that the speaker was not in the details of the field.
In 2015, another dramatic turnaround occurred when the journal PeerJ published a study led by vertebrate paleontologist Emmanuel Chop of the University of Hamburg in Germany, which reevaluated the sauropod family, including Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and... Brontosaurus. The study examined 477 physical characteristics from 81 saropod samples, revealing subtle but significant differences between Brontosaurus and Eptosaurus. For example, Brontosaurus' neck has been identified as taller, narrower, and smaller than its counterpart Apatosaurus. The resurrection of Brontosaurus was officially announced, with research suggesting three different subspecies: Brontosaurus excelsus, Brontosaurus parvus, and Brontosaurus yahnahpin.
As with any major scientific discovery, controversy arose: while Chop and his team declared Brontosaurus "resurrected," not all paleontologists were quick to embrace this "resurrection." The paleontological community, which is in no hurry to make changes to accepted truths, once again demonstrated the slow pace of research required regarding findings millions of years old. This debate continues to this day, almost a decade after the study—and no one seems to be in much of a hurry to settle the prehistoric controversy.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us