SAUROPOD DINOSAURS
Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest terrestrial
animals ever. They all have the same basic body plan: large body with
four walking legs, very long neck & tail, and a small head relative to body
size. Sauropods were herbivores, and are often perceived as holding their
heads & necks up high to reach vegetation normally out of reach to other
organisms. Modern reconstructions of many sauropod species depict them
with heads and necks held close to the horizontal, or at low angles above the
horizontal.
Camarasaurus skull (cast) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Utah, USA
(FMNH P 26230, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA).
Classification: Vertebrata, Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Camarasauridae
Diplodocus longus Marsh, 1878 - skull (cast) from the Morrison
Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Utah, USA (FMNH P 26228, Field Museum of Natural
History, Chicago, Illinois, USA).
Classification: Vertebrata, Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Diplodocidae
Diplodocus carnegii Hatcher, 1901 - life-sized reconstruction on the
grounds of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
USA). Fossil remains of Diplodocus carnegii come from the Upper
Jurassic of western America.
Classification: Vertebrata, Dinosauria, Sauropoda, Diplodocidae