Page 90 - Ultimate Visual Dictionary (DK)

PREHISTORIC EAR TH

Sauropodomorphs 1 SKULL AND MANDIBLE OF
PLATEOSAURUS
Antorbital
THE SAUROPODOMORPHA (“lizard-feet forms”) Naris fenestra Orbit
were herbivorous, usually quadrupedal (four-footed)
dinosaurs. A suborder of the Saurischia, they were
characterized by small heads, bulky bodies, and
long necks and tails. Sauropodomorphs have often
been split into two groups: prosauropods and
THECODONTOSAURUS
sauropods. Prosauropods lived from Late Triassic
to Early Jurassic times (225–180 million years ago) and included beasts
such as the small Anchisaurus and one of the first very large dinosaurs,
Plateosaurus. By Middle Jurassic times (about 165 million years ago),
Mandible Infratemporal
sauropods had replaced prosauropods and spread worldwide. They fenestra
included the heaviest and longest land animals ever, such as Diplodocus Serrated, leaf- Paroccipital
and Brachiosaurus. Sauropods persisted to the end of the Cretaceous shaped tooth process
period (65 million years ago). Many of these dinosaurs moved in herds, Mandibular
protected from predatory theropods by their huge bulk and powerful fenestra
tails, which they could use to lash out at attackers. Sauropodomorphs
were the most common large herbivores until Late Jurassic Sacral vertebrae
times (about 145 million years ago), and appear to have Dorsal vertebrae
survived in both southern and northern
continents until the end of the
Cretaceous period.

SKELETON OF
PLATEOSAURUS
Ilium

Cervical
vertebrae
Hip joint
Ischium
Pubis Femur
Humerus Scapula
Shoulder Rib
joint
Thumb-claw Tail
Knee joint
Elbow joint
Tibia
Radius
Fibula
Wrist joint Ulna
Ankle joint
Metacarpal
Metatarsals
Cranium Phalanx
Orbit
Mandible

Phalanges
Naris

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