Antarctic titanosaur tail bone identified after decades in museum drawer
A tail vertebra of a titanosaur dinosaur, collected in 1985 on James Ross Island, was recognized as a dinosaur fossil in a British Antarctic Survey collection and described in a new study.
Scientists have identified a tail bone of a long-necked, plant-eating titanosaur that had been stored in a British Antarctic Survey drawer since 1985. The specimen was originally collected by geologist Mike Thomson during a mapping expedition to James Ross Island and catalogued as a large reptile.
Paleontologist Mark Evans later noticed the bone while reviewing the survey's holdings and, together with colleagues, determined it belonged to a dinosaur. Comparative analysis with more complete specimens confirmed the identification, and the results were published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
"The region was populated by lush forests – a rather different and much more hospitable place than we think of today," said study co-author Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum in London.
The dinosaur measured about 23 feet (7 meters) in length, making it small for a titanosaur and likely a juvenile at death. Researchers suggest the animal's body may have drifted offshore and settled on the sea floor, becoming fossilized in marine rock.
"If he were still with us, he would be delighted to know what this was," said Evans, a co-author of the study.
The find highlights the rarity of Antarctic dinosaur fossils and the advances in technology that now allow detailed examination of such specimens.
