Brontosaurus excelsus

Note: A digitally colored version of the original, available here:
sounder1995.deviantart.com/art…

Brontosaurus excelsus (Marsh, 1879)Sauropsida
Diapsida
Archosauria
Avemetatarsalia
Dinosauria
Saurischia
Sauropodomorpha
Anchisauria
Sauropoda
Neosauropoda
Diplodocoidea
Diplodocidae
Apatosaurinae

Late Jurassic
Morrison Formation
Wyoming and Utah, United States

Length: 22 m

If you needed further evidence that the Linnaean taxonomic system is broken and needs replacement, then Old Bronty here is your Huckleberry. More than a century after her genus was synonymized with Apatosaurus in 1903, a new study in 2015 revalidated Othniel Charles Marsh's original description of Brontosaurus being phylogenetically distinct from Apatosaurus (Apatosaurus had a fatter neck). Brontosaurus lives again!

Link to paper here (I apologize if there's a paywall!):
peerj.com/articles/857/

Sunday, September 13th, 2015