Slashdot Mirror


"Brontosaurus" Name Resurrected Thanks To New Dino Family Tree

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.

3 of 68 comments (clear)

  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. 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!

  3. 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.