Dino card No. 1687 of 2,027

Smitanosaurus

Say it: SMIT-an-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “smith lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Jurassic

Smitanosaurus was a long-necked dinosaur that lived in what is now Colorado during the Late Jurassic. It was a plant-eater with a small head and a long tail.1 4

Lived

152 to 145 million years ago4

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Felch Quarry 1, Garden Park, Colorado, USA4

Food

Plants4

Length

up to 22 m3

largest known specimen

Weight

up to 17 tonnes3

largest known specimen

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 3 elephants

as long as 5 cars parked in a rowas long as 120 bananas end to endas heavy as 11 carsas heavy as 3400 watermelons

How big was Smitanosaurus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Smitanosaurus was named in 2020, making it a relatively new dinosaur discovery.1 4

Its fossils were originally called Morosaurus agilis by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1889.1

The name Smitanosaurus honors J. August Smith, who dug up and drew the first fossils, and the Smithsonian Institution where the bones are kept.1

Smitanosaurus belongs to a group of sauropods called dicraeosaurids, which had shorter necks than many other sauropods.1

Only a partial skull, some neck bones, and other small pieces have been found so far.1 2

It lived in the Morrison Formation, a famous fossil site that also produced dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Allosaurus.1 4

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

?How big was Smitanosaurus?

Scientists are not sure because only a partial skull and a few neck bones have been found. It was a sauropod, so it was probably large, but no exact size estimate is known.1

?What did Smitanosaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater, like all sauropods. It ate plants with its small head and long neck.1

?When did Smitanosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Jurassic, about 155.7 to 145.5 million years ago.1

?Where was Smitanosaurus found?

Its fossils were found in the Morrison Formation in Colorado, USA, at a site called Felch Quarry 1 in Garden Park.1 4

Ask Rex about Smitanosaurus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Smitanosaurus
Named by: Whitlock and Wilson Mantilla 20204
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Dicraeosauridae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea4
Age of the rocks: 152 to 145 million years (Kimmeridgian / Tithonian)4
Rock formations: Morrison4
Countries: USA4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossils were found in 1883 in Colorado and named Morosaurus agilis by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1889. In 2020, scientists Whitlock and Wilson Mantilla gave it the new name Smitanosaurus after studying the bones more closely.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Smitanosaurus is related to other dicraeosaurids, because its fossils are incomplete.1 2

Where the facts come from

Smitanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
The Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur ‘Morosaurus’ agilisMarsh, 1889 reexamined and reinterpreted as a dicraeosaurid (exa.ai)
Smitanosaurus agilis | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Smitanosaurus 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex