82-Million-Year-Old Titanosaur Tail Vertebra Found in Antarctica Is First Dinosaur Bone from Continent

A fossilized tail vertebra, dating back 82 million years, was found on James Ross Island by geologist Mike Thomson from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in December 1985. This vertebra, identified as belonging to a titanosaur, remained unexamined in storage for nearly four decades until BAS paleontologist Mark Evans stumbled upon it and reached out to Paul Barrett at the Natural History Museum in London. Their research was published on June 29 in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. The vertebra features a hollow end and a rounded bump, characteristic of titanosaurs. Estimated to be about 23 feet long, the dinosaur was likely a juvenile or smaller adult. Its discovery suggests the Antarctic Peninsula acted as a land bridge between South America and New Zealand, as no titanosaur fossils have been found in Australia. Co-author Matt Lamanna from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History emphasized the importance of museum collections in this context.