Plateosaurus
Plateosaurus
- Pronunciation:
- plat-ee-oh-sore-us
- Name meaning:
- 'flat lizard'
- Type of dinosaur:
- prosauropod
- Length:
- 7.0m
- Weight:
- 4000kg
- Diet:
- herbivorous
- Teeth:
- grinding teeth with a horny beak at the front
- Food:
- plant material
- How it moved:
- on 2 or 4 legs
- When it lived:
- Late Triassic, 210 million years ago
- Found in:
- France, Germany, Switzerland
Plateosaurus had 5-fingered hands and a large thumb claw, which may have been for defence or for collecting food. Finds in Germany suggest that this dinosaur may have lived in herds.
Taxonomic details
- Taxonomy:
- Dinosauria, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Prosauropoda, Plateosauria, Plateosauridae
- Named by:
- Meyer (1837)
- Type species:
- engelhardti
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