Apatosaurus

The movie Land Before Time takes us back to when dinosaurs ruled the world and tells the story of a young Apatosaurus named Littlefoot, who is orphaned when his mother is killed by a T-Rex. As he finds his way to the Great Valley to avoid the famine, he is joined by other young dinosaurs, a Triceratops named Cera;, a Saurolophus named Ducky; an aerophobic Pteranodon named Petri; and an orphaned Stegosaurus named Spike. Together, they must find a way to survive the Sharp Tooth, a T-Rex, as they make their journey to the Great Valley and reunite with their families.

The Apatosaurus is a gargantuan dinosaur that lived off a plant-based diet. Many know this dinosaur as the Brontosaurus, but this name is actually scientifically redundant.  They are known for their very long necks and tails, as well as for their giant bodies. These dinosaurs lived throughout the Jurassic Period, about 150 to 154 million years ago. These dinosaurs are on the top of the list of the largest animals to have ever existed on land. They usually grew to about 75 feet or 23 meters tall, weighing in at about 25 tons.

Compared to similar dinosaurs, the Apatosaurus had a less elongated body shape and was more heavily built. This means that the Apatosaurus had a tougher body structure which helped it survive its surroundings a little better. Fossil remains of these dinosaurs have been dug up in Wyoming’s Bone Cabin Quarry and Nine Mile Quarry and at Utah, Oklahoma and Colorado.

It was once believed that an Apatosaurus could not support their weight on land because they were too big, so they probably had to live in areas that were partly submerged, such as swamps. However, recent findings about their environments did not support the theory and actually backs up the idea of these animals being terrestrial dwellers.

Apatosaurus Video