Apatosaurus vs Plateosaurus
A detailed side-by-side comparison of Apatosaurus and Plateosaurus, covering size, diet, classification, geologic period, and discovery history.
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| Property | Apatosaurus | Plateosaurus |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Apatosaurus ajax | Plateosaurus trossingensis |
| Classification | Sauropoda | Sauropodomorpha |
| Period | Jurassic Late | Triassic Late |
| Diet | Herbivore | Herbivore |
| Length | 22.0 m | 8.0 m |
| Height | 4.5 m | 2.5 m |
| Weight | 22.7 t | 700 kg |
| Discovery Year | 1877 | 1837 |
| Discovery Location | Morrison Formation, Colorado, USA | Trossingen, Germany |
| Named By | Othniel Charles Marsh | Hermann von Meyer |
Size Comparison
about as long as 4 cars end-to-end
roughly the length of a large SUV
Weight Comparison
about the weight of 3.8 elephants
about 10 adult humans
Timeline Comparison
Diet Comparison
Apatosaurus
HerbivoreApatosaurus was a plant-eater, feeding on vegetation like ferns, conifers, and cycads.
Plateosaurus
HerbivorePlateosaurus was a plant-eater, feeding on vegetation like ferns, conifers, and cycads.
Classification Comparison
Apatosaurus
Plateosaurus
Did You Know?
Apatosaurus was about 2.8x longer than Plateosaurus.
Apatosaurus weighed roughly 32x more than Plateosaurus.
Both Apatosaurus and Plateosaurus were herbivores.
Apatosaurus lived during the Jurassic Late while Plateosaurus lived during the Triassic Late, separated by roughly 92 million years.
Plateosaurus was discovered 40 years earlier, in 1837.
Apatosaurus belonged to Sauropoda while Plateosaurus belonged to Sauropodomorpha.
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