Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus was a huge plant-eating dinosaur. Its name means "deceptive lizard." For many years, people called it Brontosaurus by mistake. It lived about 152 million years ago during the Jurassic Period.

A Massive Body

Apatosaurus was about 75 feet long and weighed about 25 tons. That is as heavy as four school buses! It had a very long neck and an even longer tail. Its tail could crack like a whip and may have made a sonic boom sound.

Life as a Giant

Apatosaurus ate plants all day long to fuel its huge body. It swallowed leaves whole without chewing. It also swallowed stones to help grind up food in its stomach. Baby Apatosaurus grew very fast, gaining several pounds each day.

Fun Facts

• Apatosaurus could crack its tail like a whip, making a sound louder than a cannon blast.
• It swallowed small stones called gastroliths to help digest its food.
• The name Brontosaurus was brought back in 2015 as a separate but related dinosaur.

Did You Know?

An Apatosaurus egg was only about the size of a football. The baby that hatched had to grow from 5 pounds to over 50,000 pounds during its life!