World of Dinosaurs/Barosaurus

A Barosaurus skeleton rearing on hind legs in the American Museum of Natural History.

Basics

Barosaurus means "Heavy Lizard".

Barosaurus lived during the Jurassic Period

Anatomy

Barosaurus is a large plant-eating dinosaur.

It had a long tail and a small head.

It was about 66-88 feet long.

Phylogeny

Barosaurus is a sauropod.

All sauropods are dinosaurs.

All dinosaurs are amniotes and all dinosaurs are tetrapods.

Biomechanics

Based on the way Barosaurus necks are constructed, they might not have raised them, but rather swept them around the ground.

Fossil Record

They are found in Utah and South Dakota.

Ecology

Ferns, shrubs, and trees would have been common, but flowering plants, fruit trees, or grass were NOT around yet!

Barosaurus co-existed with Allosaurus as well as other sauropods.

An artistic rendition of what predators attacking a Barosaurus might look like.

Biogeography

Rocks from the Jurassic period indicate hotter, wetter conditions than we experience on Earth today.

Rocks do not show signs of ice caps near the poles, of traveling ice-bergs, or other signs of "ice house" conditions.

Barosaurus lived in a semi-arid, seasonal floodplain. The super-continent Pangea was splitting up throughout the Jurassic Period, adding volcanic activity, particularly along the west coast, and warm, seasonally-variable habitats.