THE SAUROPODAN DINOSAURS
AL-a-moh-SAW-rus
Alamo reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Cretaceous
Montana, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, USA
Alomosaurus was the last sauropod which Lived right at
the end of age of the dinosaurus. It was named after the Almo,
the fort in San Antonio, Texas, which was the site of a famous
siege in 1836. Alamosaurus was over 65 ft. (20m) long. It
has been unearthed in many places in the western United States
and indentified by its characteristic teeth.
Ant-ARC-toh-SAW-rus
Southern reptile
Saurische:Sauropoda
Late Cretaceos
South America and Asia
Antarctosaurus was probably one of the largest
sauropods: its thigbone alone was 7.5fit (2.3m) long, which is
taller than the front door of a house. Its head was realy small
though, only 2ft. (60cm) long with weak teeth. Antarctosaurus is
known only from partail skeletons and single bones from many
fiffrent countries in South America and Asia.
a-PAT-oh-SAW-rus
Deceptive reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming USA
Apatosaurus is one of the best-known dinosaurs. It has
been called Brontosaurus (“thunder reptile”), but the
name Aptosaurus was given first. This was one of the giant
dinosaurs colected in the «bone wars» in the American West at
the ned of the nineteenth centaury by Othniel C. Marsh.
Apatosaurus had a heavy body and heyvy legs, a long neck and a
long tai. You can see that it is heavier than diplodocus but not
as tall as brachiosaurus, two of the other wellknown saropods.
Until recently, Aptosaurus was thought to be most like
camarasaurus. Skeletons of Apatosarus had been found without
their heads and they were reconstructed with a short skull, but
this was shown to be wrong in 1979. Two dinosaur experts studied
the notebooks made by the bone collectors a hundred years ago,
and used these and other evidence to show that Apatosaurs had a
long skull like Diplodocus.
Ba-RAP-a-SAW-rus
Big-leg reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Early Jurassic
Central India
Barapasaurus is one of the oldest known sauropods. Its
bones were found scattered like huge boulders across a wide area
in fields in central India. When a huge bone was taken away in a
truck, the driver said it was a big leg in the local dialect, and
this is the origin of the name. The backbone shows special
features and the closest relatives of Barapasaurus are not known.
BAR-O-SAW-rus
Heavy reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
South Dakota and Wyoming USA and Tanzania
Barosaurus was a very long and rather slender saropod like
diplodocus. The bones in its neck were each about 3.3ft (1m)
long, Barosaurus is a very important dinosaur because it has been
found in western United States and in Tanzania, East Africa, in
rocks of the same age. This proves that the huge dinosaur could
travel between the two areas and that they were joined together
by land. It has been suggested that Barosaurus, and other large
sauropods, used their long necks to feed high in the trees, just
as giraffes do today. However, when Barosaurus lifted its head,
the blood would have stopped flowing up there. It probably only
its head up for short times.
BRACK-ee-oh-SAW-rus
Arm reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
Colorado, USA, and Tanzania
Brachiosaurus is the tallest dinosaur known from
complete skeletons. It had very long front legs, a<nd if it
streched its neck upward it could have looked over the roof of a
four-story building. The best skeletons were collected earlier
this century in Tanzania. Hundreds of local workman dug the bones
up by hand and carried them to the port to be shipped to Germany.
One huge skeleton of Brachiosaurus stands in the Humboldt Museum
in East Berlin. Brachiosaurus has its nostrils on top of its
head, and it was once thought that it could breathe under deep
water. However, this is not likelx because the water pressure
would have stopped it from breathing.
(see APATOSAURUS)
Kam-AR-a-SAW-rus
Chambered reptile
Sarischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming, USA
Camarasaurus was heavily built sauropod with a shorter
tail and neck than apatosaurus or diplodocus. Its head was short
with a blunt snout. Its nostrils were up top of its head and this
has led people to szggest that it could have lived in water. Its
whole body and head could have been submerged with just the
nostrils showing.Camarasaurus had long, blunt teeth which pointed
forward, Camarasaurus had long, blunt teeth which pointed forward.
Camarasaurus probably used these to seize large mouthfuls of soft
plants and leaves. Baby Camarasaurus specimes have been found in
Utah and these show how the shape of the dinosaur changed as if
developed. The babies haverelativly short necks and big hreads;
the body is heavy and the tall is short. The name Camarasaurus
refers in the backbone, which had hollow areas or «chambers».
SEET-ee-oh-SAW-rus
Whale reptile
Saurischia: sauropoda
Middle to late Jurassic
England and North Africa
Cetiosaurus was one of the earliest dinosaur to be discovered.
It was named in 1841 from odd teeth and bones, and a partial
skeleton was found in 1870 near Oxford, England. A thigbone found
in Morocco in 1979 was 7ft (2m) long: the height of a tall man.
Cetiosaurus was one of the earliest sauropods and it was
primitive in some respects. For exanole, its massive backbone was
solid. Later sauropods had hollow areas in their bones to cut
down the weight.
Die-KRAY-oh-SAW-rus
Forked reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
Tanzania
Dicraeosaurus was related to apatosaurus and
diplodocus.
The name «forked reptile» refers to a strange features of
the vertebrae of the backbone. The spine on top of each vertebra
split in two and formed a shaped like a letter Y. The skull was
long and slooping,
Dip-LOD-oh-kus
Double beam
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, USA
Diplodocus was 90ft (27m) long. Most of this length
was made up from the very long thin neck and long whiplike tail.
The name «dounle bream» described a special feature of the
backbone. There were small bones below the backbone which had a
piece that pointed forward as well as the normal, piece that
pointed back. Many skeletons of diplodocus were colocted in the
American West about 1900. The Scottish –American millionare
Andrew Carnegie paid for many of the expeditions, and the best
skeleton called Diplodocus carneguu.
YOO-HEL-oh-pus
True marsh foot
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Early Cretecous
Eastern China
Euhelopus was a large sauropod related to camarasaurus
and opisthocoelicaudia, It may have been 33-50ft. (10-15m) long.
It had a very long neck and a rather long head. The front legs
were longer than the hind legs, and the back sloped as in
Camarasaurus. This was one of the first dinosaurs from China to
be described. It was collected in 1920s by a swedish expedition.
HIP_se-loh-SAW-rus
High reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Cretaceous
France
Hypeselosaurus was a medium-sized sauropod related to
alamosaurus, saltasaurus and titanosaurus. Hypselosaurus was
about 40ft (12m) long. It had a short head with small teeth, and
a long tail. The most interesting fact about Hypselosaurus is
that its bones have been found together with large eggs and
pieces of egg shell in the south of France. The eggs were big
– about 12in (30cm) long and 10in (25cm) across.
Ma-MENCH-ih-SAW-rus
Mamenchin (a place in China) reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic
South central China
Mamenchisaurus was a large saurod related to
apatosaurus and diplodocus. It was only known from some partial
skeletons until a nearly complete speciman was found in 1972.
This revealed something extraodinery. Mamenchisaurus had the
longest neck of any animal that ever lived. The neck was as long
as the rest of the body. Out of a total length of 72ft (22m), the
neck was 36ft (11m)! There were nineteen vertebrae in the neck
– the highest number for any dinosaur – and it was
strengthened by rods of bone. It may be that Mamenchisaurus stood
in the middle of a pond and swept its head around the sides,
eating up all the plants, with its neck floating on the water.
Nem-EGT-oh-SAW-rus
Nemegt (where found), reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Cretaceous
Mongolia
Nemegtosaurus is known only from a skull that looks
like that of diplodocus. The skull is long and slopes forward. If
Nemegtosaurus is a diplodocid, it lived much later than its
relatives, which all come from rocks dated as 50 million years
older. The headless skeleton of another sauropod,
opisthocoelicaudia, was found in the same deposit as the head of
Nemegtosaurus, and it has been suggested that the two might
actually be the same animal. In any case, they would have been
very similar.
Oh-PIS-thoe-SEEL-ih-KOW-dee-a
Backward hollow tail
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Cretaceous
Mongolia
Opisthocoelicaudia was a moderate-sized sauropoda,
about 40ft (12m) long. Only the skeleton is known, but this shows
that it was relate to camarasarus and euhelopus. The head and
neck of Opisthocoelicaudia were not found, and it has been
suggested that the nemegtosaurus head might belong with it. The
tail bones of Opisthocoelicaudia show that it might have been
able to use its tail to grasp things, or to act as a prop.
pel-O-row-SAW-rus
Monstrous reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurassic/early Cretaceous
Western Europe
Pelorosaurus was a large animal, related to
brachiosaurus and «supersaurus». This name was given in 1850 to
a partial arm bone from Susex, southern England. Since then,
dozens of scraps of sauropods of about the same age were given
the name Pelorosaurus: about twenty species in all were named. It
is a common problem that the poorer the specimens of fossils are;
the nore names they are given. Pelorosaurus may have had an armor
of little bone plates, about an inch thick, sunk into its skin.
REET-oh-SAW-rus
Rhoetos (A greek mythical giant) reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Middle Jurassic
Australia
Rhoetosaurus is a poorly known early sauropod from Australia.
The skeleton was dug up in two parts : a tail in 1924, and the
hip region in 1926. these bones were not enough to allow a
reconstruction of Rhoetosaurus, but its lenght has been estimated
as 40ft (12m). Its thigbone was 5ft (1,5m) long. Rhoetosaurus is
one of the oldest sauropods, and it is probably related to
cetiosaurus.
SALT-a-SAW-rus
Salta (where found) reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Cretaceous
Argentina
Saltasaurus was a large armored sauropod. Five
incomplete skeletons of this animal were found in the late 1970s,
which show that it was related to antarctosaurus and titanosaurus.
The most interesting fact about Saltasaurus was that thousands of
small and large bone plates were found with the skeletons. The
small plates were only a fraction of an inch or so across and
they were packed closely in the skin to cover the whole body. The
large plates were up to four inches across, the back between the
smaller plates. Saltasaurus was 40ft (12m) long.
Super-SAW-rus
Super reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurrasic
“Supersaurus” has not been properly named
yet, but it may have been the largest dinosaur known. The bones
of “Supersaurus” were discovered in 1971, and
they clearly belonged to an animal like brachiosaurus. However,
it was much bigger. One bone of the neck was over 5ft. (1.5m)
long, and its shoulder blade was much longer than a human. It has
been estimated that “Supersaurus” was 100ft. (30m)
long and 50ft. (15m) high. An even bigger animal, known as “ultrasaurus”
was found in 1979.
Tie-TAN.oh-SAW-rus
Titanic reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Cratecous
Europe, India, Indochina, and South America
Titanosaurus was a medium-sized sauropod that was very
widespred. Ten or more species of Titanosaurus have been
named from countries as far apart as India, Hungary and Argentina.
The fact that this one dinosaur has been found in so many parts
of the world shows that it was able to migrate freely. Titanosaurus
was about 40ft. (12m) long and rather heavily built. It had a
long taiol, a short neck and a broad back probably covered in
armor, as in saltasaurus.
ULL-tra-SAW-rus
Ultra reptile
Saurischia: Sauropoda
Late Jurrasic
Colorado, USA
“Ultrasaurus” was discovered in 1979. It has
not yet been given a scientific name. “Ultrasaurus”
was probably even bigger than “supersaurus”, measuring
over 100ft. (30.5m) long.
