A fossil that was sitting in a collection drawer for decades has been found to belong to the first dinosaur remains ever discovered in Antarctica.
The vertebra or backbone was found in 1985 by a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) expedition, but was initially assessed as belonging to a large reptile, according to a statement from London’s Natural History Museum on Monday.
After multiple decades in storage, it was spotted by Mark Evans, a palaeontologist and manager of the geological collections at the BAS.
“It looks unusual, I just needed to make sure it was what I thought it was,” Evans told CNN on Tuesday.
The fossil belonged to a Titanosaur, a group of long-necked herbivorous sauropods that includes the largest dinosaurs that ever lived.
