Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian), 152–150 Ma
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Mounted A. louisae (specimen CM 3018), Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:
†Sauropoda
Superfamily:
†Diplodocoidea
Family:
†Diplodocidae
(unranked):
†Apatosaurinae
Genus:
†Apatosaurus Marsh, 1877
Type species
†Apatosaurus ajax
Marsh, 1877
Other species
†A. louisae Holland, 1916
Synonyms
Atlantosaurus montanus? Marsh, 1877 [1][2]
Apatosaurus (/əˌpætəˈsɔːrəs/;[3][4] meaning "deceptive lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, A. ajax, in 1877, and a second species, A. louisae, was discovered and named by William H. Holland in 1916. Apatosaurus lived about 152 to 151 million years ago (mya), during the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age, and are now known from fossils in the Morrison Formation of modern-day Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah in the United States. Apatosaurus had an average length of 21–23 m (69–75 ft), and an average mass of 16.4–22.4 t (16.1–22.0 long tons; 18.1–24.7 short tons). A few specimens indicate a maximum length of 11–30% greater than average and a mass of approximately 33 t (32 long tons; 36 short tons).
The cervical vertebrae of Apatosaurus are less elongated and more heavily constructed than those of Diplodocus, a diplodocid like Apatosaurus, and the bones of the leg are much stockier despite being longer, implying that Apatosaurus was a more robust animal. The tail was held above the ground during normal locomotion. Apatosaurus had a single claw on each forelimb and three on each hindlimb. The Apatosaurus skull, long thought to be similar to Camarasaurus, is much more similar to that of Diplodocus. Apatosaurus was a generalized browser that likely held its head elevated. To lighten its vertebrae, Apatosaurus had air sacs that made the bones internally full of holes. Like that of other diplodocids, its tail may have been used as a whip to create loud noises, or, as more recently suggested, as a sensory organ.
The skull of Apatosaurus was confused with that of Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus until 1909, when the holotype of A. louisae was found, and a complete skull just a few meters away from the front of the neck. Henry Fairfield Osborn disagreed with this association, and went on to mount a skeleton of Apatosaurus with a Camarasaurus skull cast. Apatosaurus skeletons were mounted with speculative skull casts until 1970, when McIntosh showed that more robust skulls assigned to Diplodocus were more likely from Apatosaurus.
Apatosaurus is a genus in the family Diplodocidae. It is one of the more basal genera, with only Amphicoelias and possibly a new, unnamed genus more primitive. Although the subfamily Apatosaurinae was named in 1929, the group was not used validly until an extensive 2015 study. Only Brontosaurus is also in the subfamily, with the other genera being considered synonyms or reclassified as diplodocines. Brontosaurus has long been considered a junior synonym of Apatosaurus; its type species was reclassified as A.excelsus in 1903. A 2015 study concluded that Brontosaurus is a valid genus of sauropod distinct from Apatosaurus, but not all paleontologists agree with this division. As it existed in North America during the late Jurassic, Apatosaurus would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.
^Taylor, M.P. (2010). "Sauropod dinosaur research: a historical review." Pp. 361–386 in Moody, R.T.J., Buffetaut, E., Naish, D. and Martill, D.E. (eds.), Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Saurians: A Historical Perspective. London: The Geological Society, Special Publication No. 34.
^Berman, D.S. and McIntosh, J. S. (1978). "Skull and relationships of the Upper Jurassic sauropod Apatosaurus (Reptilia, Saurischia)." Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum, 8: 1–35.
cervical vertebrae of Apatosaurus are less elongated and more heavily constructed than those of Diplodocus, a diplodocid like Apatosaurus, and the bones of...
Brontosaurus was not different enough from Apatosaurus to warrant a separate genus, so he created the new combination Apatosaurus excelsus for it. Riggs stated that...
apatosaurine; Apatosaurus in 1877 and Brontosaurus in 1879. For many years, Brontosaurus was considered a taxonomic synonym of Apatosaurus after a 1903...
on display by 1908 in Hall 35 when the Field Museum's newly mounted Apatosaurus was unveiled, the very specimen Riggs had found in Quarry 12, today catalogued...
closely related to Diplodocus than to Apatosaurus) and Apatosaurinae (diplodocids more closely related to Apatosaurus than to Diplodocus). Originally, it...
largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include Apatosaurus, Argentinosaurus, Alamosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus...
Jurassic Park, Apatosaurus is the first group of dinosaurs seen on the island. It is replaced by Brachiosaurus in the film adaptation. Apatosaurus also appears...
ornithodirans (four dinosaurs and a pterosaur) named Littlefoot (a male Apatosaurus), Cera (a female Triceratops), Ducky (a female Saurolophus), Petrie (a...
as Poppa Henry, the father of the Apatosaurus family Frances McDormand as Momma Ida, the mother of the Apatosaurus family Marcus Scribner as Buck, Arlo's...
distinct form from Apatosaurus and Camarasaurus. He therefore named the separate genus Lourinhasaurus. The type species is Apatosaurus alenquerensis, the...
films and a television series. The main characters include Littlefoot (Apatosaurus), Cera (Triceratops), Ducky (Saurolophus), Petrie (Pteranodon), Spike...
(a carnivorous basal dinosaur) Triceratops horridus (a ceratopsian) Apatosaurus louisae (a sauropod) Edmontosaurus regalis (a hadrosaurid ornithopod)...
of all time, including slender giants like Supersaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Amphicoelias. Most had very long necks and long, whip-like tails;...
environment and time dominated by gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, such as Apatosaurus, Barosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Camarasaurus. Its great...
public view in 1908. This is the well-known mount poised over a partial Apatosaurus skeleton as if scavenging it, illustrated as such in a painting by Charles...
procompsognathus, which would then spread the disease to herbivores such as apatosaurus, and the apatosaur carcasses would be eaten by compys, which would then...
and time dominated by gigantic sauropod dinosaurs such as Barosaurus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Brachiosaurus. Dinosaurs...
Camarasaurus, a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from North America Apatosaurus, a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from North America Brachiosaurus...
Winston's former colleagues at Legacy Effects provided an animatronic Apatosaurus for the film. Maquettes were used to depict the velociraptors during...
genus, it was considered a popular, yet deprecated, name for the genus Apatosaurus. Some examples of deprecated terms from medicine include consumption...
been found. Stegosaurus would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and Allosaurus, the latter of which may have...
first role in the 1984 TV series Call to Glory. He voiced Littlefoot the Apatosaurus in the first The Land Before Time movie, and Little Nemo in Little Nemo:...
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