The fossil origin and body characteristics of Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus)

Brontosaurus is one of the giant long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs. It is 21 meters long, 4.5 meters high from the hip, and weighs about 35 tons. They like to move in groups. When a large group of Brontosaurus comes from a distance, it must be dusty and loud like thunder - this is the origin of its name. This kind of big man looks like a meat mountain, with a long neck and a very disproportionately small head. A brontosaurus with a small head and a big body must spend a lot of time eating, and it has to gobble it up. Food slides down its long esophagus into its stomach, where it is ground up by the pebbles it occasionally swallows.

Brontosaurus can be said to be a well-known dinosaur. According to a survey conducted by China Dinosaur Network, the most popular dinosaur idol is Brontosaurus, followed by Tyrannosaurus. One questionnaire asked: "What kind of dinosaur do you know?" The answer: "The one with a long neck, Brontosaurus. I only know this kind. There is this illustration in "One Hundred Thousand Whys"." It can be seen that. , Thunder Dragon is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, Brontosaurus is not the real name of this animal. It should be called "Apatosaurus", whose original Latin meaning is "bewilderment".

The naming of Brontosaurus begins with the first fossil war in 1879. Marsh's expedition team collected two skullless and incomplete sauropod dinosaur skeletons in Wyoming. In order to publish them first, he hastily gave the two skeletons the name "Brontosaurus". Then he started the full publicity machine and launched a literary attack: "We were surprised to find this huge dinosaur. It had a heavy body, well-developed limbs, a long neck and a tail. This dinosaur weighed 30 to 35 tons, and its body was as long as 21~27 meters. Its neck is longer than its body, reaching 6 meters! Its tail is about 9 meters long. It may stand up on its heels. It is really towering... It may live on the plains. In the forest, and possibly traveling in herds, when a large group of Brontosaurus came from a distance, the dust must have covered the sun and the sound was like thunder, so Marsh named it 'Brontosaurus'."

Unfortunately, Marsh later discovered that the two names were actually the same dinosaur. According to the naming priority of the International Law of Zoological Nomenclature, the scientific name of the later-named Brontosaurus is invalid and should be called Apatosaurus.

Chinese name: Apatosaurus

Latin name: Apatosaurus

Age of survival: Late Jurassic

Fossil origin: America

Physical characteristics: 21~27 meters long

Diet: Plants

Species: Sauropod

Definition: confusing lizard

animal tags： Apatosaurus