Brontosaurus: A faded star rises again
Jonathan Stephens
March 17, 2026
> Brontosaurus may in fact be the first dinosaur ever to appear in a work of fiction. The 1901 pulp adventure novel Beyond the Great South Wall by Frank Savile is about an expedition to Antarctica that discovers a lost civilization that worships a god named “Cay.” The author includes this footnote after the narrator stumbles upon Cay’s lair:
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>> Lord Heatberslie makes a mistake here. Professor Lessatition’s subsequent researches proved “the god Cay” to be without doubt Brontosaurus excelsus, remains of which have been found in the Jurassic formation of Colorado. It was purely a land animal.
Discussion in the ATmosphere