APATOSAURUS
Apatosaurus ajax
Meaning: "Deceptive Lizard"
📊 STATS
Size comparison:
As long as four school buses parked end-to-end!
📖 ABOUT APATOSAURUS
Meet Apatosaurus! This giant, plant-eating dinosaur roamed North America during the Jurassic period. Get ready to learn about this 'Deceptive Lizard'!
Imagine a dinosaur so big, it could munch on treetops! That's Apatosaurus, a long-necked herbivore that lived during the Late Jurassic period. Its name means 'Deceptive Lizard' because its bones were mixed up with other dinosaurs when it was first discovered! Apatosaurus was part of a group called sauropods, known for their incredibly long necks and tails. These gentle giants were quadrupeds, meaning they walked on four legs, which were strong and sturdy to support their massive weight. They used their long necks to reach high into the trees to eat leaves and needles. Scientists believe Apatosaurus might have used its long, whip-like tail to defend itself against predators. They lived in herds, which helped them stay safe from meat-eating dinosaurs like Allosaurus. While they weren't the fastest dinosaurs, moving at around 8 kilometers per hour, their huge size probably deterred many predators!
🔬 CLASSIFICATION
- Group
- Sauropoda
- Family
- Diplodocidae
- Period
- Late Jurassic (163-145 Ma)
- Era
- 152.0 - 151.0 million years ago
🗺️ DISCOVERY
- Year
- 1877
- Discovered by
- Othniel Charles Marsh
- Location
- Colorado, USA
- Fossils found in
- USA (Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming)
🎨 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION
Artistic reconstruction of Apatosaurus based on fossil evidence
🗺️ WHERE FOSSILS WERE FOUND
USA (Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming)
🤓 FUN FACTS
- ✨ Apatosaurus' tail was so long, it could crack it like a whip to scare away predators!
- ✨ They had peg-like teeth only in the front of their mouths, perfect for stripping leaves off branches!
- ✨ Baby Apatosaurus grew super fast, gaining tons of weight each day!
- ✨ Scientists used to think Apatosaurus had a different head, and called it 'Brontosaurus'!
- ✨ Apatosaurus lived in what is now the United States, back when it was a much warmer place!
💡 DID YOU KNOW?
Get this! Apatosaurus swallowed rocks to help grind up their food in their stomachs, just like some birds do today!
