MEET APATOSAURUS
Discovery and name The name Apatosaurus means ‘deceptive lizard’ in Greek. This name was given because the chevron bones of Apatosaurus resemble those of extinct marine reptiles called mosasaurs.
The bones of Apatosaurus were once mixed up with another dinosaur Camarasaurus and given the name ‘Brontosaurus’.
Apatosaurus was named by the famous palaeontologist Othneil Charles Marsh in 1877.
Lived where and when? Apatosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic (approximately 155-145 million years ago) in North America. The bones of Apatosaurus have been collected from Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Oklahoma.
Size and growth Apatosaurus grew far larger than any land animal alive today, measuring 21 metres long, 6 metres high and weighing 25 tonnes.
Incredibly, baby Apatosaurus would have hatched out of eggs about the size of a football. The eggs of large, long- necked, sauropod dinosaurs like Apatosaurus have been found in small clutches of about 10, and unlikely received parental care. The bone structure of juvenile sauropods suggests rapid growth, putting on between 500kg and 2000kg per year! Individuals were thought to reach sexual maturity before achieving maximum size. The large size of adult Apatosaurus would have protected it against most predators.
Diet The relatively small but long skull of Apatosaurus had simple, peg-like teeth at the front of its jaws. These teeth were equipped for stripping plants, but not for chewing. It is debated whether Apatosaurus held its neck horizontal to feed on low-lying plants, or upright to feed on tall trees. Some palaeontologists even suggest that Apatosaurus fed on trees by rearing up on its hind legs while using its tail as support.
Defence - tail and claws The tail of Apatosaurus was once thought to have dragged along the ground as the animal sluggishly walked. However, palaeontologists now think the tail of Apatosaurus was strong and held off the ground, acting as a counterbalance for its long neck. The end of the tail contained small rod-like vertebrae which could have been swung like a whip for defence.
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