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clade · 20 represented species

Sauropoda

Sauropoda contains the long-necked, small-headed and column-limbed quadrupeds that became the largest terrestrial animals.

Explore this branch Parent: Sauropodomorpha

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Sauropoda

The page URL and title are included automatically. Optional contact details are used only to discuss this report. Do not submit private information or precise sensitive fossil-site coordinates.

Representative silhouette for Sauropoda
4Direct child groups
8Countries represented
210–66 MaDataset range

Definition

Characteristics and significance

Sauropods combined skeletal lightening, extensive air-sac systems and rapid growth with body sizes unmatched by other land animals.

  • Very long neck and tail
  • Columnar weight-bearing limbs
  • Air-filled vertebrae in many lineages

Name meaning: Lizard feet

Branch structure

Direct branches in this dataset

family

Mamenchisauridae

Open branch superfamily

Diplodocoidea

Open branch clade

Macronaria

Open branch genus

Shunosaurus

Open branch

Representative taxa

Dinosaurs in this branch

Life reconstruction of Mamenchisaurus sanjiangensis, shown as a representative relative of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensisArt by Connor Ashbridge · CC BY 4.0

Jurassic

Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis

A nearly complete Chinese sauropod famous for a neck about 9.5 metres long, an exceptional cervical series and a small fused structure at the end of its tail.

herbivore~22 m
Side-view life reconstruction of Diplodocus carnegii by Fred WierumArt by Fred Wierum · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jurassic

Diplodocus carnegii

A long, lightly built Morrison Formation sauropod with peg-like front teeth and an extraordinarily long tail. Its famous Carnegie skeleton—and casts sent around the world—made Diplodocus a global museum icon.

herbivore~25 m
Side-view life reconstruction of Apatosaurus louisaeArt by Connor Ashbridge · CC BY 4.0

Jurassic

Apatosaurus louisae

A powerfully built Late Jurassic diplodocid known from the nearly complete Carnegie Quarry skeleton CM 3018, with an exceptionally thick neck, stout limbs and a long tapering tail.

herbivore~22 m
Side-view life reconstruction of Brontosaurus excelsusArt by Tom Parker · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jurassic

Brontosaurus excelsus

The classic thunder lizard: a robust Late Jurassic diplodocid from Wyoming with a powerful neck, columnar limbs and an exceptionally long tapering tail.

herbivore~21.5 m
Life reconstruction of an adult Barosaurus rearing near a juvenile and an AllosaurusArt by Fred Wierum · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jurassic

Barosaurus lentus

A rare, exceptionally long-necked diplodocid from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, best known from spectacular museum skeletons assembled from partial remains.

herbivore~26 m

Distribution

Geographic record

Thailand · China · United States · Niger · Argentina · Tanzania · India · Germany

Country-level summary of represented seed records, not a complete range map.

Sources

Further reading

Introduction to the DinosauriaDinosaur Paleobiology