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Apatosaurus

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An artist’s illustration of Apatosaurus louisae, a giant dinosaur from the age of the dinosaurs.

Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus was a very big dinosaur that lived a long, long time ago in North America. It lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 152 to 151 million years ago. This gentle giant was a herbivorous sauropod, which means it ate only plants and had a long neck to reach high leaves.

These wonderful creatures were enormous! They could grow up to 21–23 meters (69–75 feet) long and weigh as much as 16 to 22 tons. Imagine a dinosaur as long as three school buses lined up together! They had long necks, strong bodies, and tails that helped them balance while walking on all four legs.

Fossils of Apatosaurus have been found in several places, including Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah. Scientists first discovered these fossils in 1877, and they named the dinosaur Apatosaurus, which means "deceptive lizard." This name was chosen because the bones looked different from other dinosaurs they knew.

Apatosaurus belonged to a family called diplodocid, and it was similar to another famous dinosaur called Diplodocus. They lived at the same time as other interesting dinosaurs like Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Stegosaurus. Even though the world had many different dinosaurs, Apatosaurus was one of the most special and loved by scientists and kids alike.

Images

A chart showing how big the Apatosaurus dinosaur was compared to a person and another dinosaur, Brontosaurus.
A fossilized skull of Apatosaurus, a giant dinosaur from the Jurassic period, displayed at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.
Scientific illustration of a dinosaur neck bone from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
An 1877 illustration showing scientists uncovering dinosaur fossils, including Apatosaurus and Atlantosaurus, in Colorado.
Scientific drawing showing the sacral vertebrae of Apatosaurus ajax, an ancient dinosaur, viewed from below.
A dinosaur skeleton on display at the American Museum of Natural History, showing scientists how these ancient creatures may have looked.
A dinosaur skeleton being assembled in a museum. This shows scientists working on putting together the bones of an Apatosaurus, also known as Brontosaurus.
A fossilized Apatosaurus dinosaur on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
A dinosaur skeleton on display at the American Museum of Natural History.
A fossil of an Apatosaurus dinosaur on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Skeleton of Apatosaurus on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo.
A detailed skeletal reconstruction of the dinosaur Apatosaurus, also known as 'Einstein,' displayed at the Papalote Museum.
A close-up of a fossilized shoulder bone from Apatosaurus, an ancient dinosaur, displayed for educational purposes.

Related articles

Dinosaur
Laurentia
Late Jurassic
Period (geology)
Herbivore
Sauropod

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Apatosaurus, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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