Camarasaurus
Camarasaurus supremus
Pronounced:
Kam - uh - ruh - Saw -
rus
Diet:
Herbivore (Plant-Eater)
Name
Means:
"chamber lizard"
Length:
60 feet (19 m)
Height:
20 feet (3 m)
Weight:
30 tons (27,000 kilos)
Time:
Late Jurassic - 152 mya
Fossil remains
for this Dinosaur
have been found in
Western North
America
Camarasaurus was a very
heavily built member of the
long-necked sauropod family
of Jurassic dinosaurs. It is
very well known by
scientists and recently a
family of these large
creatures was discovered in
the Western United States
Camarasaurus is also a part
of one of paleontology's big
mistakes when its head was
put on the body of
Apatasaurus and called
Brontosaurus
Compared to some of the
other sauropods,
Camarasaurus had a
relatively short neck and
tail. It also had a large
head compared to other
sauropods, but the head was
almost hollow. The skull
openings for the nose and
eyes were very large. This
is the most common North
American sauropod found,
with more than ten fairly
complete skeletons unearthed
to date. At least four
species have been identified
within this genus.
Camarasaurus gets its name
from the hollow spaces in
its neck vertebrae. These
would have made the neck
lighter and easier for the
dinosaur to lift and move
about. This dinosaur also
had the largest teeth among
sauropods. |
