Overview
- The small caudal vertebra was collected on James Ross Island in December 1985 and sat in the British Antarctic Survey geology collection until a recent curatorial review.
- BAS collections manager Dr Mark Evans reexamined the specimen, asked Natural History Museum palaeontologist Paul Barrett to inspect it, and co‑authors published the formal description on June 29, 2026.
- Morphology identifies the bone as a titanosaur tail vertebra and size comparisons suggest the animal was about 6–7 metres long, implying a juvenile or small-bodied individual.
- The fossil is dated to roughly 82 million years ago because it was preserved in marine rock with ammonites, allowing a precise Late Cretaceous age estimate.
- Researchers say the find links Antarctic faunas to South America and Zealandia, highlights gaps in the Australian record, and shows how reworking museum collections and ice retreat could yield more discoveries.