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82-Million-Year-Old Titanosaur Vertebra Marks Antarctica’s First Dinosaur

7/2/2026

Summary

Evans & Barrett Confirm

Mark Evans (British Antarctic Survey) and Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum) confirmed a vertebra from Ross Island on 9 December 1985 is Antarctica’s first dinosaur bone and identified it as a titanosaur vertebra.
Dating puts the Santa Marta Formation at 82.6 ± 0.5 million years (lower Campanian) and CT scans show bone with procoely.
The specimen indicates a juvenile about six to seven metres long and suggests Antarctica linked South America, Antarctic Peninsula and New Zealand.

Summary

Evans Identifies Sauropod

Mark Evans, new BAS geological collections curator, flagged the vertebra as atypical.
He consulted Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, who confirmed sauropod features.
The team originally called the bone a marine reptile because the formation is marine and the 1985 expedition lacked paleontological expertise.
The 1985 BAS field season on James Ross Island, led by Michael Thomson and Reinhard Förster, aimed to map Late Cretaceous marine strata.

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Evans & Barrett Confirm

Mark Evans (British Antarctic Survey) and Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum) confirmed a vertebra from Ross Island on 9 December 1985 is Antarctica’s first dinosaur bone and identified it as a titanosaur vertebra.
Dating puts the Santa Marta Formation at 82.6 ± 0.5 million years (lower Campanian) and CT scans show bone with procoely.
The specimen indicates a juvenile about six to seven metres long and suggests Antarctica linked South America, Antarctic Peninsula and New Zealand.

1 / 2