How It Works-Book Of Dinosaurs

A round four times heavier than an

A frican elephant, five times longer

than your car and almost six times the

height of a full-grown human, Apatosaurus was

one of the largest dinosaurs of the Jurassic era

and one of most gigantic to ever walk the Earth.

As is typical with large dinosaurs of this

period, Apatosaurus (once mistakenly know n

as Brontosaurus) was a herbivore, consuming

vast quantities of foliage and grasses over the

lands that now form modern-day North

A merica. Interestingly, despite its size, its name

is derived from the Greek ‘apate’ and ‘saurus’,

which translate as ‘deception lizard’ – a name

bestowed by its original discoverer, American

palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh.

Prior to the 1970s, Apatosaurus, along with

many other sauropods, were considered largely

aquatic creatures that relied on being partially

submerged in swamps and lakes to remain

stable – a v iew seemingly confirmed by their

colossal bulk. However, recent evidence has

demonstrated that through a combination of

massive limb bones and a series of weight-

reducing internal air sacs located throughout

the neck and spine, Apatosaurus’s home was,

in fact, entirely land-based, only spending

time at water sources to drink.

Speaking of drinking, the Apatosaurus

required gallons of water per day to remain

healthy, while it also needed to process vast

amounts of food, spending a large proportion of

each day grazing. It did this with few predators,

as only the largest carnivorous dinosaurs had

any chance of bringing down an Apatosaurus,

largely thanks to its size. It also had a deadly

weapon in its tail, which was capable of being

swung at great velocity at any foes.

Despite its defensive prowess, however, the

Apatosaurus could not battle off extinction,

with it falling to a medium-sized extinction

event around 150 million years ago.

One of the largest animals to ever exist on Earth, the

Apatosaurus towered metres over its Jurassic rivals

Meet the real

Brontosaurus

Head

Apatosaurus had a deep,

slender skull filled with

long peg-like teeth. These

broad, rounded teeth were

excellent at stripping off

leaves from branches

Neck

As with other sauropods,

the Apatosaurus’s neck

vertebrae were deeply

bifurcated, carrying paired

spines. The neck was also

filled with many weight-

saving air sacs

Torso

A colossal torso that weighed many tonnes

was standard containing similarly huge

organs, including a 500-litre, four-chambered

heart and two 900-litre capacity lungs

Ribs

Apatosaurus possessed incredibly

long, robust ribs compared to

most other diplodocids, granting it

an unusually deep chest cavity

Apatosaurus vs human

How would this enormous dinosaur have

sized up to a person?

23m

9m

DINOSAURS

Apatosaurus