Two years were required to unearth the skeleton of a brontosaurus.
The Diplodocus nearly equalled the brontosaurus in bulk and exceeded it in length.
There were roars of laughter, and a grin from White like the smile of a brontosaurus.
And they had a smooth skin, while this thing has scales, like those of a brontosaurus, which was really a land animal.
Simultaneously there appeared a herd of the greatest of all the prehistoric monsters—the brontosaurus.
The leader of the brontosaurus herd trumpeted madly and barged for the higher ground of safety.
If the position isn't faced they will soon die out altogether and become as rare as the brontosaurus.
The vertebr are hollowed out much in the same way as those of brontosaurus.
It appears that at the annual fancy-dress ball all the inhabitants clubbed together and went as a brontosaurus.
He would not have been surprised to see a brontosaurus peeking coyly down at him from twenty feet or so of neck.
1879, Modern Latin, from Greek bronte "thunder" (perhaps from PIE imitative root *bhrem- "to growl") + -saurus. Brontes was the name of one of the Cyclopes in Greek mythology.
| brontosaurus (brŏn'tə-sôr'əs) or brontosaur An earlier name for apatosaurus. Our Living Language : Take a little deception, add a little excitement, stir them with a century-long mistake, and you have the mystery of the brontosaurus. Specifically, you have the mystery of its name. For 100 years this 70-foot-long, 30-ton vegetarian giant had two names. This case of double identity began in 1877, when bones of a large dinosaur were discovered. The creature was dubbed apatosaurus, a name that meant "deceptive lizard" or "unreal lizard." Two years later, bones of a larger dinosaur were found, and in all the excitement, scientists named it brontosaurus or "thunder lizard." This name stuck until scientists decided it was all a mistake—the two sets of bones actually belonged to the same type of dinosaur. Since it is a rule in taxonomy that the first name given to a newly discovered organism is the one that must be used, scientists have had to use the term apatosaurus. But "thunder lizard" had found a lot of popular appeal, and many people still prefer to call the beast brontosaurus. |
