I photographed this statue of a dinosaur at a Sinclair gas station in Dinosaur, Colorado. When I was a kid, this dinosaur was named Brontosaurus. Then they changed its name to Apatosaurus. Now, its name may be changed back to Brontosaurus. Why?
Answer:
In 1877, one of the great dinosaur hunters, Othniel Charles Marsh, found some bones from new species of dinosaur, which he named Apatosaurus. In 1879, he found bones from another dinosaur, which he named Brontosaurus. As more complete skeletons were found, it was discovered that both were from the same kind of dinosaur. By the rules of scientific naming, the first name given is the one that should be used, so the official name was changed to Apatosaurus.
Recent biometric studies of the bones show a difference between the bones that were originally named Apatosaurus and the bones that were named Brontosaurus. It is currently unclear whether this is just variation within a single kind of dinosaur, or two different, but similar kinds. If more study confirms two different kinds, then Brontosaurus will start showing up in dinosaur books again.
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