June 30, 2026 / 7:52 AM EDT
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Scientists have stumbled on a rare dinosaur fossil from Antarctica, tucked away for decades in a drawer. The bone comes from the tail of a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur called a titanosaur. Scientists haven't yet identified the species it belongs to. It was discovered in 1985 during an expedition to Antarctica's James Ross Island and collected by geologist Mike Thomson. Working with the British Antarctic Survey, Thomson was mapping the area's rock layers and collected marine reptile fossils to help with future dating efforts. He recorded the find as a large reptile. Decades later, paleontologist Mark Evans spotted the bone in the British Antarctic Survey's collections and wondered whether it might be a dinosaur. "It's only when you start thinking 'what's in this drawer,' that sometimes you come across something and you think, 'Ah, this looks interesting,'" Evans told BBC News.He and other researchers analyzed the shape of the bone and compared it to other more complete dinosaur remains, confirming their discovery. The findings were published on Monday in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. Dinosaur fossils are rare to find in Antarctica because of the unforgiving ice caps. But millions of years ago, when this dinosaur lived, the region was populated by lush forests — a "rather different and much more hospitable place than we think of today," said study co-author Paul Barrett with the Natural History Museum in London.
