When paleontologists discover a new dinosaur skeleton, how exactly do they know if it’s an entirely new species or if it falls under a known species category?

Question

I’ve kind of wondered this, because how do these scientists know that a certain discovered specimen doesn’t have a physical disability (making it look very different from other members of its kind) and know that whatever physical skeleton differences they find are enough to warrant a new species or not?

In: Biology

Answer 1

They dont. And that a species is first identified as a new species but later found to be a known one that looked a bit diffrent happens quite often. Also if the diffrences are small there often is quite a bit debate if its a diffrent species or not.