Antarctic Fossil Identified after Forty Years in Drawer

In 1985, a scientific team visited James Ross Island in Antarctica. They found a small fossil during their expedition. However, the team did not know the identity of the fossil. They believed the fossil belonged to a marine reptile.

They sent the bone to a collection in Cambridge. The British Antarctic Survey kept the bone in a drawer. This interesting fossil stayed inside the drawer for forty years. No scientists studied the old specimen during this long time.

Recently, Doctor Mark Evans looked inside the old drawer. He found the fossil among thousands of Antarctic specimens. He immediately saw a shape like a dinosaur bone. He wanted to confirm his new idea very quickly.

So, he called Professor Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum. Professor Barrett held the bone and studied its shape. The fossil had a hollow on one side. It also had a bump on the other side.

These tail bones connect to make a special joint. This special joint only exists in these unique dinosaurs. The scientists confirmed the identity of this dinosaur tail bone.

This group of plant-eating dinosaurs contains the largest beasts on Earth. The biggest Titanosaurs grew to thirty-five meters long. They weighed about sixty tonnes and ate green plants.

However, this specific dinosaur was only seven meters long. This creature was probably a very young dinosaur. This dinosaur lived in Antarctica eighty-two million years ago.

At that time, Antarctica was not cold and icy. It was a warm land with green forests. The forests gave the Titanosaur plenty of food.

Today, thick ice covers the rocks in Antarctica. Paleontologists cannot find ancient fossils easily in this cold place. This first dinosaur bone tells us about the ancient environment. It is a very important discovery for science.