Rules in Science and the Loss of the Brontosaurus

A hundred years earlier, a very popular dinosaur mistakenly got named twice. The first time it was called "Apatosaurus" or "deceptive lizard" and nobody much cared, because the name was dull and the fossil wasn't all that spectacular, but later discoveries were more dramatic and looked different enough that scientists mistakenly thought they'd found a new dinosaur. They called it "Brontosaurus" (meaning "thunder lizard").

Brontosaurus stuck, in part because of the cool name, plus the Sinclair Oil Company adopted the Brontosaurus as its corporate logo and that long, gangly, smiling "Dino" showed up on TV. Kids got enchanted.

When it became clear that Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus were the same genus, pretty much the same animal, one name had to go. In science the rule is, first names get priority, and Brontosaurus wasn't first. Scientists were willing to let it go, but kids (and former kids) wouldn't. They still won't.

The story of the Apatosaurus and the Brontosaurus and how one was lost as a dinosaur because of some, fabled "rule" of science. Are there really rules of science? Aren't they just cultural conventions of scientists? Why not adhere to broader cultural norms?