I was wrong and so were you. We all were. The Brontosaurus never existed.
The huge dinosaur with the peculiarly small head has been an important part of popular culture for well over a century. The so-called “thunder lizard” was a key component of Fred Flintstone’s diet, and a big green Brontosaurus remains on Sinclair gas station billboards. Brontosauruses are still featured on toys and T-shirts, too. There are even a few alleged Brontosaurus bones on display.
But scientists have long agreed that the Brontosaurus was nothing more than a mistake made by a paleontologist who, in a rush to claim he found a new breed of dinosaur, accidentally mistook a fossilized skeleton of the already-discovered Apatosaurus for something new.
As far back as 1903 there was wide agreement in the scientific community that Brontosaurus never lived. By 1979, reputable paleontologists had put the Brontosaurus debacle behind them and worked to inform the media and the public that the Brontosaurus, sadly, never was.
Now, 34 years since the last scientists gave up on the existence of the Brontosaurus, most people are beginning to accept that the very creature many of us think of when we picture a dinosaur in our minds didn’t actually roam the Earth.