# Could the name "brontosaurus" get reassigned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313 "2013-07-23T18:38:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/1 "2013-07-23T18:38:16Z")
Since specimens that were previously called brontosaurus were identified as apatosaurus, could the name brontosaurus be used for a newly discovered sauropod, or is its (mis)application permanent? ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/2 "2013-07-23T18:50:43Z")
Two different names for one creature is bad; one name for two different creatures is not likely to be an improvement. The story of brontosaurus vs apatasaurus is part of paleontology’s history. I’d favor leaving it “in situ”, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/3 "2013-07-23T20:06:46Z")
Ditto. Even if someone tried it, no one would follow that lead. I’m sure there are products on the market, whose name is the same as other products. But generally, this happens because the original product failed and never became popular, making the name available for reuse. It’s going to be a **very** long time before people forget the word “brontosaurus”. I myself, upon reading the title for this thread, said to myself, “Oh yeah, they call the brontosaurus something else nowadays. What’s the new name?” and I had to read the thread to be reminded. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/4 "2013-07-23T21:19:52Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Since specimens that were previously called brontosaurus were identified as apatosaurus, could the name brontosaurus be used for a newly discovered sauropod, or is its (mis)application permanent? No. _Brontosaurus_ is a “junior subjective synonym” of _Apatosaurus_, so it is not available for a new Genus. It _is_ possible for _A. excelsus_ (the specimen originally named _Brontosaurus excelsus_) to be reassigned back to _Brontosaurus_, if, after a subsequent examination of the material, it is determined that the fossils are sufficiently different from _Apatosaurus ajax_ to warrant the original different genus assignments. After _B_ was synonomized with _A_ back in 1903, no one has gone back and challenged the reassignment. So it _could_ happen, but isn’t likely to. Until then, _Brontosaurus_ remains off limits for any further specimens. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Elk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Anne\_Elk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Elk)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/5 "2013-07-23T22:47:16Z")
I have a theory about brontosauruses. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/6 "2013-07-23T23:10:44Z")
Or they could just admit that they were wrong and that Brontosaurus is a cooler name. But no. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/7 "2013-07-23T23:15:19Z")
> [@Anne\_Elk](#): > > I have a theory about brontosauruses. … ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/8 "2013-07-23T23:18:25Z")
> [@Anne\_Elk](#): > > I have a theory about brontosauruses. Could you tell us who it belongs to? ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/9 "2013-07-23T23:37:33Z")
Bakker uses the term brontosaurus. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Elk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Anne\_Elk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Elk)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/10 "2013-07-23T23:41:13Z")
> [@Rain\_Soaked](#): > > Could you tell us who it belongs to? My theory, which belongs to me, is mine. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Elk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Anne\_Elk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Elk)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/11 "2013-07-23T23:45:39Z")
All brontosauruses are thin at one end, much, much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end. That is the theory that I have, and which is mine, and what it is too. Thank you Miss Anne Elk ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/12 "2013-07-23T23:47:36Z")
Your theory, should you share it with the SDMB, could well become canon. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/13 "2013-07-24T00:29:20Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > Bakker uses the term brontosaurus. So did Gould. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/14 "2013-07-24T01:23:09Z")
I thought suspension bridge-type dinosaurs were generically called diplodocene? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/15 "2013-07-24T01:29:26Z")
Brontosaurus is a common name for the category of creatures with the scientific designation _Apatosaurus_. If one objects to this state of affairs, one might as well object to calling a _Felis_ a “cat”. (incidentally, Firefox’s spellchecker bizarrely flags “Apatosaurus” as wrong, and suggests “Brontosaurus” as a correction) ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/16 "2013-07-24T02:05:36Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I thought suspension bridge-type dinosaurs were generically called diplodocene? If anything, they would be diplodocoid. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/17 "2013-07-24T02:08:24Z")
What’s the diff? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/18 "2013-07-24T02:13:02Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > So did Gould. [Bully for Brontosaurus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_for_Brontosaurus). He liked the name. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-the-name-brontosaurus-get-reassigned/664313/19 "2013-07-24T02:22:07Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > After _B_ was synonomized with _A_ back in 1903, no one has gone back and challenged the reassignment. _ **A hundred and ten years ago???!!!** _ I had no idea it was that far back. I hereby retract my previous post, in which I wrote: > [@Keeve](#): > > It’s going to be a **very** long time before people forget the word “brontosaurus”. Faggetaboutit. I ain’t gonna happen. Ever.