Dino card No. 0092 of 2,027

Ammosaurus

Say it: ah-moh-SORE-us

Name means: “sand lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Jurassic

Ammosaurus was a long-necked dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic, about 195 to 180 million years ago. It was a plant-eater that probably walked on all fours but could stand on its hind legs to reach high plants. Fossils of this dinosaur have been found in the USA and Canada.1 2

Lived

201 to 200 million years ago4

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

USA (Connecticut, Arizona) and Canada (Nova Scotia)1 2

Food

Plants2 4

Length

2.5 to 5 m1 2

estimates vary; some sources say up to 5 m

Weight

20 kg to 32 kg2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 8 house cats

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 28 bananas end to endas heavy as 6 watermelons

How big was Ammosaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Ammosaurus was once called Yaleosaurus, named after the famous Yale University.4

Some scientists think Ammosaurus might actually be the same dinosaur as Anchisaurus, just a larger individual.2

Fossils of Ammosaurus were found in a bridge abutment in Connecticut, USA, when the bridge was demolished in 1969.2

Ammosaurus lived in a dry environment with strong wet and dry seasons, like a desert today.2

Its spoon-shaped teeth were perfect for ripping plants, and it had fewer teeth than many other prosauropods.2

AI-made picture of Ammosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Ammosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Ammosaurus

?How big was Ammosaurus?

Ammosaurus was about 2.5 to 4 metres long and weighed up to 32 kilograms.2 1

?What did Ammosaurus eat?

Ammosaurus was mainly a plant-eater, but it might have eaten small animals sometimes. It swallowed stones called gastroliths to help grind up food in its stomach.2 1

?When did Ammosaurus live?

Ammosaurus lived during the Early Jurassic Period, about 200 to 185 million years ago.1 2

?Where was Ammosaurus found?

Fossils of Ammosaurus have been found in the USA and Canada, including in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Nova Scotia.2 1

?Is Ammosaurus the same as Anchisaurus?

Many scientists now think Ammosaurus is actually just a larger individual of Anchisaurus, so they are probably the same dinosaur.2 3

?Did Ammosaurus have feathers?

The sources do not mention feathers on Ammosaurus, so scientists do not know for sure if it had them.2 1

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Myth buster

Myth: Ammosaurus was a giant, fearsome predator.

Truth: Ammosaurus was a small, plant-eating dinosaur, only about 2.5 to 5 meters long, and it ate plants, not meat.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Ammosaurus
Named by: Marsh 18914
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Anchisauridae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha4
Age of the rocks: 201 to 200 million years (Hettangian)4
Rock formations: McCoy Brook4
Countries: Canada4
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database4
Also known as: Yaleosaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)4
Discovery: Ammosaurus was named by famous paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1891. The first fossils were found in a well in East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1818, but were not recognized as dinosaur bones until much later.2 4
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Ammosaurus is a separate species or just a larger version of Anchisaurus.2

Where the facts come from

Ammosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Anchisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A revision of the problematic sauropodomorph dinosaurs from Manchester, Connecticut and the status of Anchisaurus Marsh (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
Ammosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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