The Fascinating History of Fallacious Fossils

By Audric Brian Gardoña

Throughout the course of history, humans have been fascinated with fossils and prehistoric life. The mystery surrounding these things piqued the interest of scientists and researchers all over the world which led to groundbreaking discoveries. However, paleontologists have committed errors in fossil reconstruction and analysis in the past that resulted in bizarre, and sometimes funny, interpretations of creatures that once roamed this planet. It all started with the discovery of a collection of humble bones by the side of the road.

Iguanodon

The story tells of a woman named Mary Ann Mantell who found large teeth embedded in rocks by the roadside as she was traveling with her husband Gideon Algernon Mantell to Sussex. Later on, her husband studied the fossils and he was convinced that the teeth they found are similar to those of the iguana, but greater in size. Thus, he named the unknown reptile Iguanodon.

In 1834, a rock slab containing more fossil evidence was discovered in a quarry near Maidstone. Limb bones, pelvis, vertebrae, clavicles, rib fragments, a portion of a tooth, and a tooth impression were included in the slab. Gideon determined that the reptile has a horn based on the available remains (Swinton, 1951). However, this theory was disproved in the 1870s by a remarkable discovery suggesting that the spikes that were thought to be horns were actually thumbs. Scientists believe that the thumbs may have been used defensively against predators.

Later in 1878, 30 relatively complete Iguanodon skeletons were unearthed in a coal mine at Bernissart, Belgium. The fossils were transported to and reassembled in Brussels. After many years, paleontologists have finally had a good look at a complete Iguanodon fossil. The excavated fossil in Bernissart, Iguanodon bernissartensis, was identified to be a separate species of Iguanodon from the one that Mantelli discovered, I. mantelli, due to their anatomical differences (Norman, 1980).

The Bone Wars

A feud between two paleontologists, Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, sparked during the latter half of the 19th century which was known as the Bone Wars. Starting as good friends, Cope and Marsh’s relationship turned into a rivalry when they tried to outdo each other in devious ways.

Their rivalry started when Cope incorrectly reconstructed the skeleton of a plesiosaur called Elasmosaurus platyurus, which Marsh pointed out and confirmed by Joseph Leidy. Marsh noticed that the vertebrae of the reconstructed skeleton was oriented in reverse and its skull was mistakenly put at the end of its tail. The incorrect placement of the skull rendered the plesiosaur with a long tail and a short neck, which opposes the real body configuration of an Elasmosaurus (Davidson, 2002).

To be fair, Cope’s error was likely due to the fact that no one has ever seen a complete Elasmosaurus specimen before. His specimen was unique and the only known example of its genus and species during his time.

The issue about Cope’s “fossil blunder” was followed by a more heated clashing of the two paleontologists, which did not turn out well for both. Although they both have promising contributions and discoveries, their exchange of charges and countercharges severely damaged their reputation as American paleontologists and their feud became one of the most infamous controversies in their field.

Fossil Blunders Then and Now

Errors in fossil reconstruction are much more common in the past due to the lack of available fossils and state-of-the-art equipment. For instance, sauropod fossils are often found without a skull. In Marsh’s attempt to reconstruct a complete Brontosaurus (now called Apatosaurus) skeleton, he used a Brachiosaurus skull which was later on found out by other paleontologists. It was thought before that Brontosaurus was just a mislabeled Apatosaurus, but a study conducted by a team of European paleontologists in 2015 suggests that Brontosaurus is actually a separate species (Tschopp et.al., 2015).

In pop culture, these fossil blunders were referenced in the 2019 video game “Pokémon Sword and Shield”. The Pokémon franchise introduced four new fossil Pokémon with the names Arctozolt, Arctovish, Dracozolt, and Dracovish. These four creatures have mismatched body parts of a dinosaur, fish, dragon, and bird which resulted from the carelessness of a researcher in the game named Cara Liss. Being set in the Galar region, which is based in the United Kingdom, the concept artist and illustrator of these Pokémon must have drawn inspiration from the close ties between the United Kingdom and its history of paleontology.

Paleontologists might have committed errors in reconstructing fossils but their interpretations were the most accurate depiction of dinosaurs in their time given the limited knowledge they have about such reptiles. Their research and discoveries kickstarted the field of paleontology, paving the way for future generations of scientists to unearth the mysteries and wonders of Earth’s past.

References:

Davidson, J. P. (2002). Bonehead Mistakes: The Background in Scientific Literature and Illustrations for Edward Drinker Cope’s First Restoration of Elasmosaurus platyurus. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 152, 215–240. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4065118

Norman, D. B. (1980). On the Ornithischian Dinosaur Iguanodon Bernissartensis from the lower cretaceous of Bernissart Belgium. Inst. Royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique.

Swinton, W. E. (1951). Gideon Mantell and the Maidstone Iguanodon. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 8(2), 261–276. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3087202

Tschopp, E., Mateus, O., & Benson, R. B. J. (2015). A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, sauropoda). PeerJ, 3. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.857