Barosaurus

What it was like

Barosaurus was a giant, long-necked plant eater, with a neck longer in proportion to its body than most of its relatives, balanced by a shorter tail. It grew to about 24 meters (79 feet) long, one of the longest animals of its time, and likely swept its head along the ground and through low branches to feed on huge amounts of plant material each day.

Its world

Barosaurus lived in what is now the western United States, with possible remains also reported from Zimbabwe, during the Late Jurassic into the Early Cretaceous, between about 155 and 143 million years ago. Its bones, fifteen finds in all, come mostly from the Morrison Formation across Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota.

It shared this landscape with fellow sauropods Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Brachiosaurus, the armored Stegosaurus, and predators such as Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus.

How it was found

Marsh named Barosaurus in 1890. It belongs to Diplodocidae, the family of long-tailed sauropods that also includes Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and the enormous Supersaurus. With fifteen finds, Barosaurus is reasonably well known, though its close resemblance to Diplodocus has made some remains difficult to tell apart.