Atlasaurus
Atlasaurus was a giant, long-necked plant eater that stomped through Morocco about 165 million years ago. It was as long as a big bus and weighed as much as several elephants!1
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Fun facts
Atlasaurus had a shorter neck than its relative Brachiosaurus, but its neck was still about 3.86 metres (12.7 feet) long.1
Its thigh bone (femur) was about 2 metres (6 feet 7 inches) long, which is taller than most people!1
The lower jaw of Atlasaurus was about 69 centimetres (27 inches) long, and its teeth were spoon-shaped with tiny serrations.1
Atlasaurus had longer arms compared to its legs than many other sauropods, with an upper arm bone (humerus) that was almost as long as its thigh bone.1
A nearly complete tail of Atlasaurus was found in Morocco and took 300 hours to piece back together in Utah, USA.1
Scientists first thought Atlasaurus was a kind of primitive sauropod called a cetiosaur, but later they saw it was more like Brachiosaurus.1
Most asked questions about Atlasaurus
?How big was Atlasaurus?
Atlasaurus was about 15 metres long and weighed around 22.5 tonnes. That is as long as a big bus and as heavy as several elephants.1
?What did Atlasaurus eat?
Atlasaurus was a plant eater, or herbivore. It had spoon-shaped teeth with tiny serrations to help chew plants.1
?Where was Atlasaurus found?
Atlasaurus was found in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, in North Africa. Its fossils come from the Guettioua Formation, which is about 165 million years old.1
?Was Atlasaurus related to Brachiosaurus?
Yes, Atlasaurus is thought to be closely related to Brachiosaurus. It had a shorter neck and longer tail than Brachiosaurus, but similar limb bones.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Atlasaurus was a type of Brachiosaurus.
Truth: Atlasaurus is a separate genus, but it is closely related to Brachiosaurus and shares many features.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Atlasaurus
- Named by
- Monbaron et al. 19992
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Macronaria2
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria2
- Age of the rocks
- 168 to 165 million years (Bathonian)2
- Rock formations
- Guettioua2
- Countries
- Morocco2
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
- Discovery
- The first Atlasaurus skeleton was found in 1981 in Morocco, and scientists Monbaron, Russell, and Taquet described it in 1999.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate exactly where Atlasaurus belongs in the sauropod family tree. Some think it is a turiasaur, while others think it is a brachiosaurid.1
Where the facts come from
- Atlasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Atlasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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