World of Dinosaurs/Barosaurus

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search
A Barosaurus skeleton rearing on hind legs in the American Museum of Natural History.

Basics[edit | edit source]

Barosaurus means "Heavy Lizard".

Barosaurus lived during the Jurassic Period

Anatomy[edit | edit source]

Barosaurus is a large plant-eating dinosaur.

It had a long tail and a small head.

It was about 66-88 feet long.

Phylogeny[edit | edit source]

Barosaurus is a sauropod.

All sauropods are dinosaurs.

All dinosaurs are amniotes and all dinosaurs are tetrapods.

Biomechanics[edit | edit source]

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

Fossil Record[edit | edit source]

They are found in Utah and South Dakota.

Ecology[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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.