The giant thunder lizard and tyrant lizard Dinosaurs
(Fossils) belongs to which order :-
A) Cotylosauria
B) Lepidosauria
C) Saurischia
D) Loricata
Answers
Explanation:
palaeontologists have been trying to convince the public that Brontosaurus doesn’t, and never, existed but now a new study has been published that returns this name to the ranks of the dinosaurs. So why the sudden turn around?
Such a change is in fact a very normal part of the constant updates and revisions that come with the process of taxonomy (identifying and naming new species) though in this case it comes as part of a quite exceptionally detailed study. Taxonomy may sound like a relatively easy job, species are either new or not, but things are perhaps inevitably rather more complex than that. Evolution doesn’t proceed in big leaps and with discrete boundaries between different groups, but instead one thing grades into another over time as changes and differences accumulate. Eventually populations are different enough to be recognised as separate entities and given a name. However, such smearing of boundaries causes enough problems in sorting out living organisms, but with fossils where there is never a whole organism, (and even half a skeleton is a good find), this can be a more tricky area.
In the case of Brontosaurus, it was named mistakenly - the evidence at the time, and indeed for many decades afterwards, was insufficient to separate it from the already described Apatosaurus. That meant that under the rules of taxonomy (yes, there are rules) that name-wise, Apatosaurus should stay and Brontosaurus should go. This issue was actually recognised quite soon after the creation of the name Brontosaurus and so actually the persistence of the ‘thunder lizard’ is down to a commendable staying power in the public consciousness, despite its rejection by palaeontologists.
The return of Brontosaurus then while something of a surprise, is not a great rejection of previous work. Names undergo constant revision and as with any branch of science, new information means that current orthodoxy can change. Despite the jibes, taxonomists don’t routinely name new species after fragments of bones (though in some cases, new species can be identified from very little remains) but this has happened in the past and some names and descriptions do need to be tidied up and corrected. I’ve been privileged to help name a number of new dinosaurs and other fossil reptiles, and also been responsible for sinking a couple of others and it requires careful consideration of the details of the specimens at hand and the existing traits that define the various species.