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"Brontosaurus" Name Resurrected Thanks To New Dino Family Tree

Posted by timothy on from the usps-has-a-stopped-geologic-clock dept.

sciencehabit writes In, the U.S. Postal Service issued colorful dinosaur stamps, including one for Brontosaurus. Paleontologists and educators loudly protested that the correct scientific name for the iconic beast was Apatosaurus—a fact that even lay dino aficionados and many 8-year-olds took pride in knowing. But now, a dinosaur-sized study of the family tree of the Diplodocidae, the group that includes such monstrous beasts as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Barosaurus, finds that USPS got it right: The fossils originally called Brontosaurus show enough skeletal differences from other specimens of Apatosaurus that they rightfully belong to a different genus. The study, published online this week in the journal PeerJ, brings the long-banished name back into scientific respectability as a genus coequal with Apatosaurus.

9 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. Now get Pluto designated a planet by perpenso · · Score: 4, Funny

    And if we can get Pluto designated a planet once again we'll be back to normal. :-)

    1. Re:Now get Pluto designated a planet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Pluto" Reinstated as a Planet Thanks To New Grammar Analysis

      In, the IAU created the "dwarf planet" category and put Pluto in it. Everyone thought this meant Pluto was no longer a planet. But now, an advanced analysis of English expressions which included "blue car" and "white cloud" came to the conclusion that a blue car is a car, and that a dwarf planet is a planet. The study, published this week, brings the long-banished planet back into scientific respectability.

    2. Re:Now get Pluto designated a planet by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Funny

      Schoolchildren are bing taught there are eight planets

      Home schooled kids are still learning about all nine. Obama's conspiracy to purge Pluto from the textbooks is not going to work. When Ted Cruz wins in 2016, both Pluto and the brontosaurus will be back. The Republicans aren't call the "dinosaur party" for nothing.

    3. Re:Now get Pluto designated a planet by cyberchondriac · · Score: 4, Funny

      or we could get Brontosaurus designated as a dwarf planet.

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  2. Makes me want to shout by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yabbadabba Doo!

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    Table-ized A.I.
  3. Re:No News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Slow news my @55! Speak for yourself, bozo! So my good friend Fred Flintstone will finally be able to dump that stupid name "apatoburger" and refer to his favorite food once again by its proper rightful name.

  4. When was that again? by oodaloop · · Score: 4, Funny

    In, the U.S. Postal Service issued colorful dinosaur stamps

    That would be in 1989, according to 2 minutes of googlating. Good job, "editors"!

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    1. Re:When was that again? by Minwee · · Score: 3, Funny

      He was implying that you hadn't the summary.

  5. Paging Dr. McCoy. by Minwee · · Score: 5, Funny

    In, the U.S.

    Uh oh. Sounds... like... wemayhavea... case... of.

    ...

    Shatner's Disease.

    Get... thismanto.. sick. Bay. Now!