Apatosaurus
The Apatosaurus had one of the smallest brains of all of the dinosaurs even though it was one of the largest dinosaurs found by paleontologists.
· An adult Apatosaurus was first named a Brontosaurus due to a mistake as scientists didn’t realize the first Apatosaurus ever found had been a juvenile.
· The Apatosaurus ate stones to aid in digestion of its food.
· Because of the length of the neck of a Apatosaurus, this dinosaur couldn’t hold his head straight up at an angle of 90 degrees because blood could not get to its brain if it did.
The Apatosaurus has caused some confusion in the scientific community. Once known as the mighty Brontosaurus for the massive sound this animal must have made due to its weight, its name was changed to Apatosaurus after discovering that the Brontosaurus was the adult version of a previously discovered dinosaur. Since the name Apatosaurus was published before the name Brontosaurus, the official name of this dinosaur became Apatosaurus.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Archosauria
Suborder: Dinosauria
Order: Sauropoda
Family: Diplodocidae
Genus: Apatosaurus
Species: Apatosaurus ajax, excelsuius, louisae
The Apatosaurus lived during the Jurassic period about 140 million years ago. Some of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered, the Apatosaurus stood around 15 feet at the hips. From head to tail, it could measure in at up to 80 feet and weighed up to 40 tons. It was not, however, the largest dinosaur ever found by paleontologists.
The Apatosaurus is related to the Diplodocus, although the Apatosaurus had denser bones that were bigger and heavier in both the legs and the cervical vertebra. Both had long necks and tails.
The first skull of the Apatosaurus was found and identified in 1975, a full century after the dinosaur received its name. The Apatosaurus had claws, but only the thumb was readily identifiable.
Scientists think that the Apatosaurus held its tail about a meter off the ground, which would prevent it from being in reach of predators. Other defenses of the Apatosaurus included the ability to stomp its predators with crushing force based on its weight alone. Its skin provided yet another defense mechanism as it was tough and leathery.
Many scientists believed at first that the Apatosaurus must have been a water dinosaur. They got this idea from the size of the Apatosaurus and it was commonly stated by scientist in the early years of the discovery of this dinosaur that the probable environment was perhaps a swamp.
However, as more was learned about the Apatosaurus, it became apparent that the long neck and tail acted as counterweights to its massive body. This gave way to a new venue of thought that suggested the Apatosaurus was a land dweller that traveled in herds and ate from the top of the trees. Fossilized footprints and other evidence discovered by scientists support this theory of thought and help make it a more plausible one for the Apatosaurus.
Studies of the neck vertebra also held some surprises for scientists. When first discovered, it was thought that the Apatosaurus’s long neck had great flexibility and mobility. After more thorough investigation of the neck bones, scientists discovered that the Apatosaurus’s neck was not so flexible. This discovery led to the theory that the Apatosaurus’s neck could not be held at an angle of 90 degrees (straight up at a right angle) as the blood in its body may not have been able to reach its brain.
For its size, the head and brain of the Apatosaurus was disproportional to its body. Both are among the smallest of all the dinosaurs, in sharp contrast to the body of the Apatosaurus.
It is only common sense that the Apatosaurus must have eaten huge amounts. It would probably have taken a great deal of food to supply their bodies with enough energy to survive. No one, though, is absolutely positive on how this plant eating giant managed to get that much food on a regular basis.
The most common thought is that the Apatosaurus must have eaten constantly, stopping only to sleep and drink. This further supports the theory that the Apatosaurus traveled and lived in herds and was a land dweller as the amount of plant material necessary for their bodies would have been more plentiful on land than at sea.
What is known is that the Apatosaurus dined on twigs, leaves, branches and other fibrous tree and plant materials. It is also presumed that the Apatosaurus may have eaten rocks to help in the digestion of its food as its teeth were small and peg-like. The mouth of the Apatosaurus was ridiculously small for its size and would not have been adequate to grind and fully chew its food for easy digestion otherwise. The rocks worked in its stomach as another method of breaking down its diet into usable nutrients.
Apatosaurus Quiz
1. What did the Apatosaurus eat?
2. How long could the Apatosaurus grow to be?
3. True or False: The Apatosaurus had a very short neck.
4. How many legs did the Apatosaurus walk on?
5. What is the other name of the Apatosaurus?
6. Why did the Apatosaurus eat rocks?
7. True or False: The Apatosaurus’s brain was very tiny.
8. Have scientists ever found a footprint made by the Apatosaurus?
9. When did the Apatosaurus live?
10. Was the Apatosaurus a land dweller or a sea dweller?
Apatosaurus Coloring Sheets
How many 2, 3, and 4 letter words can you make from:
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Unscramble the bolded word to find the answers to the questions. 1. Apatosaurus had long cnke and tails. 2. The Apatosaurus’s nostrils were on the top of its ahde. 3. The Apatosaurus thaedch from eggs. 4. The Apatosaurus’s life span may have been over 100 syera. 5. The Apatosaurus was almost 90 feet onlg. 6. Because it had a very small brain, the Apatosaurus was not very stamr. 7. The Apatosaurus lived in the ssrajuic period.
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