A fossil bone from a dinosaur that once roamed Antarctica has been found. Not on a frozen continent. But in a drawer. At Cambridge University.
Scottish researchers from the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow made the discovery. They were rifling through old collections. A relic of a long-forgotten expedition. The bone belongs to a Sauropod. A gentle giant. The first dinosaur evidence ever recovered from Antarctica.
This is not a new dig. This is an archive raid. The specimen was collected in the 1980s. By British explorers. It lay mislabelled. Gathering dust. Then a PhD student noticed something odd. The rock was different. The shape was familiar. A femur, they think. From a juvenile.
The find rewrites the map. Dinosaurs in Antarctica. We always suspected. Now we have proof. The bone is about 180 million years old. From the Early Jurassic. When Antarctica was warmer. Connected to other landmasses.
But the real story is here. In a museum drawer. It shows how much we still don't know. How much is sitting in collections. Waiting to be rediscovered.
Scottish researchers are now leading the charge. They want to re-examine all Antarctic specimens. The bone is undergoing CT scans. More details soon. But the political subtext is clear. UK science is built on past empire. And sometimes, old bones still tell new stories.
For now, the dinosaur remains anonymous. It will be given a formal name soon. But in Westminster, the chatter is different. This is a funding victory. A reminder of why we still back polar research. While budgets are squeezed, this find gives leverage. The researchers are already planning an expedition. To find more.
The bone will be displayed at the National Museum of Scotland. A win for Edinburgh. But Cambridge is furious. They lost a piece of history. In a drawer. Internal reviews are likely. Questions of curation. Of legacy.
And what of Antarctica itself? The politics there are frozen. The Antarctic Treaty. Tensions over mining. Discovery claims. This bone is a reminder. We are still exploring. But who owns the past? The UK or Scotland? The researchers or the museum? Expect leaks. Expect briefings.
I have spoken to a source inside the university. They are 'embarrassed' but 'thrilled'. The discovery was accidental. But it was also inevitable. Collection audits are revealing similar finds worldwide. This is a trend. Old bones. New eyes.
More to follow. The dinosaurs may be extinct. But in politics, this bone is very much alive.
