The brontosaurus is back - revived after years spent wandering the taxonomic wilderness.

Brontosaurus and its cousin Apatosaurus have been the subjects of debate among palaeontologists since the late 1800s.

In 1879, paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh described a 25-metre backbone and enormous fossilized pelvis, which he hastily named Brontosaurus (Greek for “thunder lizard”).

Marsh was keen to classify as many ancient beasts as possible, in a battle to outperform rival paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.

The bitter Cope-Marsh Bone Wars saw both men publish a range of sloppy, half-complete fossil descriptions.

Researchers have spent the following decades unravelling and revising the dubious recreations.

In 1903, shortly after Marsh’s death, scientists found a skeleton that looked like a cross between Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus, and after their deeper investigations they classified each of the two dinosaurs as separate species belonging to one genus: Apatosaurus.

The revision saw Brontosaurus spurned.

But now, researchers from Portugal and the UK have brought Brontosaurus back.

They present strong evidence that Brontosaurus is in fact a distinct species and genus.

Intense statistical analyses were used to find a range of subtle differences between Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus fossils, many of which were only dug up in the past 15 years.

The team found that the there were so many differences between each species that they deserved entirely separate genera.

But the new paper is expected to receive some backlash, as decades of debate cannot be silenced by just one paper.

Still, for childhood fans of the 30-ton sauropod featured in the Flintstones and The Land Before Time, an old friend appears to be the real deal again.

The new distinction is discussed in the paper “A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda)”.