page_title: Barosaurus
section_title: Feeding
hierarchical_section_title: Barosaurus / Paleobiology / Feeding
caption_attribution_description: English: Barosaurus lentus skull cast, on display at the Natural History Museum of Utah, Salt Lake City.
context_page_description: Barosaurus was a giant, long-tailed, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur closely related to the more familiar Diplodocus. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Upper Jurassic Period of Utah and South Dakota. It is present in stratigraphic zones 2-5.
  The composite term Barosaurus comes from the Greek words barys meaning "heavy" and sauros meaning "lizard"; thus "heavy lizard".
context_section_description: The structure of the cervical vertebrae of Barosaurus allowed for a significant degree of lateral flexibility in the neck, but restricted vertical flexibility.  This suggests a different feeding style for this genus when compared to other diplodocids.  Barosaurus swept its neck in long arcs at ground level when feeding, which resembled the strategy that was first proposed by John Martin in 1987. The restriction in vertical flexibility suggests that Barosaurus could not feed on vegetation that was high off the ground.
caption: Skull cast, Natural History Museum of Utah
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