Dinosaur Hall - Sauropods
Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest land animals ever to walk on earth.
These dinosaurs were masters of their environment, and their weight exceeded
20 tons (40,000 pounds). Footprint evidence suggests the younger ones may
have traveled in the center of the herd. Sauropods, first known from the
Early Jurassic, survived until the latest Cretaceous and were among the last
of the dinosaurs to become extinct.
Camarasaurus
Known as the Jurassic “cow,” more skulls of Camarasaurus
are known than all other sauropod skulls combined. Many species of
Camarasaurus are known. The largest, C. grandis, had a neck that,
when fleshed out, would have been nearly as tall as a man. This specimen is
a replica from the Morrison Formation in Utah, dating from the Late
Jurassic.
Apatosaurus
You may touch this fossil femur (thighbone) of an Apatosaurus,
previously known as Brontosaurus. These sauropods reached over 80
feet long and weighed over 20 tons, five times the size of an African
elephant. The animals traveled in herds, and because of their massive size
may have had little to fear from predators. Apatosaurus lived
exclusively in the Jurassic. Some roamed what is now Arizona 144 million
years ago.
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