APATOSAURUS

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The Greek name Apatosaurus literally means "Deceptive lizard". Apatosaurus was formerly known as Brontosaurus,but its name was recently changed because its body had previously been matched with the wrong skull. A full skeleton had never been found with the skull present, so the skull of another dinosaur, Camarasaur, was used as a model to cast skulls. Apatosaurus was closely related to Diplodocus. Like Diplodocus, they lived in the late Jurassic ranging from 157-146 M.Y.A. They grew to a height of about 4.5m, a length greater than 20m, and could weigh up to 30 tonnes. It is believed that they were very cumbersome and thus moved vey slowly. Like the other sauropods, they too had extremely small heads and brains. Their nostrils were located near the tops of their heads. Apatosaurus had similar feeding habits to that of Diplodocus. (Image courtesy of sphere.ad).