Why Was Brontosaurus So Big? (And I Don't Mean In Size)

When asked "what does a dinosaur look like", a select few usually spring to mind: T-Rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops...and Brontosaurus. For most of us born in the 20th century, that great long-neck was an ever-present fixture in our collective pop culture. It started early in 1914 with Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur and continued into the mid-century with films like The Lost World and King Kong. Anyone who's passed a Sinclair gas station has fond memories of that glowing, green dino in the sky (or the fictional Dinoco for the youngin's here). And few of my generation will ever forget the feeling of having your heart Kali Ma'd while watching defenseless baby bronto, Littlefoot, weep

over the body of his dead mother.

But why? Why, out of all the dinosaurs discovered before and since, Brontosaurus managed to slowly lumber into the spotlight? We have a familiar face to thank for that if you perused last week's post on The Bone Wars. Yes! It was our favorite petty paleontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh.

To recap: in his rush to prove himself a superior scientist over his rival, Edward Drinker Cope, O.C. Marsh had made the critical mistake of creating an entirely new species of sauropod out of only one partially-completed skeleton with no skull in 1879.

After the declaration of Marsh's discovery, fellow paleontologist Elmer Riggs argued that Brontosaurus was too similar to the only-slightly-more-previously-discovered Apatosaurus. Riggs would call for the species to be reclassified for years but he was no match for Marsh's popularity and rich-boy connections. Despite Riggs' protests, when it came time to display the one-of-a-kind sauropod to its adoring public, the American Museum of Natural History slapped a big ol' Brontosaurus sign across the bones and the world fell in love. I mean, with a catchy name like "Thunder Lizard", what could compare? For many people at the turn of the century, Brontosaurus was their first introduction to sauropods--if not dinosaurs entirely. While many dinosaurs were simply portrayed as giant iguanas, Brontosaurus was one of the first to make its mark as a creature wholly alien to our modern world.

In the end, history--and science--would favor Elmer Riggs over O.C. Marsh. Brontosaurus was renamed to Apatosaurus excelsus and that seemed to be the final say for over a century... But in a twist that surely warmed the shriveled cockles of Marsh's dead, paranoid heart, a 2015 study published by British and Portuguese scientists may have brought the Brontosaurus back once and for all as a genuine species.

If the Brontosaurus teaches us anything, it's that even scientific communities are like high school and sensationalism will always try to beat out facts. You know, like politics.

Top left: photo credit to Sideshow Collectibles Middle right: The Land Before Time, property of Universal Pictures #blog #blogging #dinoblog #paleoart #dinosaurs #paleontology #brontosaurus #apatosaurus #thelandbeforetime #childhood #popculture #kingkong #thelostworld #gertiethedinosaur #science #history #scienceblog #historyblog