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Dystrophaeus

Say it: dis-TROF-ee-us

Name means: “bad joint”4

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Jurassic

Dystrophaeus was a long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Utah, USA, about 156 million years ago. It is one of the earliest sauropods ever found in North America, but we only know it from a few bones.4 1

Lived

158 to 155 million years ago4

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

San Juan County, Utah, USA1

Food

Plants4

Length

12 to 14 m2

estimated from related sauropods

Weight

7 tonnes to 12 tonnes3

estimate

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 2 elephants

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 78 bananas end to endas heavy as 8 carsas heavy as 2400 watermelons

How big was Dystrophaeus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Dystrophaeus was named by famous paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1877, based on bones collected in 1859 by John S. Newberry.4 1

The only known fossils of Dystrophaeus include a partial arm bone, a shoulder blade, and a back bone, all from one individual.1

Scientists are not sure exactly what kind of sauropod Dystrophaeus was. Some think it might be related to Diplodocus, but others say it is too incomplete to tell.2

The name Dystrophaeus means 'bad joint' because Cope thought the bones looked oddly shaped.4

Dystrophaeus lived during the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic, about 157 to 155 million years ago.4

The Dystrophaeus fossils were found in the Tidwell Member of the Morrison Formation, a famous rock layer that also produced dinosaurs like Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus.1

AI-made picture of Dystrophaeus — An AI-made picture of how Dystrophaeus 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 Dystrophaeus

?How big was Dystrophaeus?

It was a moderate-sized sauropod, maybe about 13 metres (43 ft) long and weighing roughly 7 to 12 tonnes (7.7 to 13.2 short tons).3

?What did Dystrophaeus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. As a sauropod, it had a long neck to reach vegetation.3 4

?When did Dystrophaeus live?

It lived about 158 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period. That makes it the oldest sauropod from the Morrison Formation.3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Dystrophaeus
Named by: Cope 18774
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Eusauropoda4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda4
Age of the rocks: 158 to 155 million years ()4
Rock formations: Morrison4
Countries: USA4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Dystrophaeus was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1877, based on bones collected in 1859 by John S. Newberry in San Juan County, Utah.4 1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Dystrophaeus is a true diplodocid sauropod or belongs to a different group, because the fossils are so fragmentary.2

Where the facts come from

Dystrophaeus viaemalae Cope, 1877 (si.edu)
A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) (docentes.fct.unl.pt)
Dystrophaeus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
Dystrophaeus 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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