Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus ("deceptive lizard") is a dinosaur that lived in North America 155–145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period.
==Background==
===Real life===
Apatosaurus is a member of the Diplodocoid group of sauropods, and is classified in the subfamily Apatosaurinae. Apatosaurus was first discovered in 1877 by a miner named Arthur Lakes, and was named by famed paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. Its bones were initially mistaken for those of a , a large marine lizard. Because the first specimen was found without a skull, it was thought that the skull of the more distantly related belonged to it, but later discoveries found more skulls that actually belonged to Apatosaurus, showing it had a longer, more slender snout than previously assumed by Marsh and his colleagues. Two species of Apatosaurus were reconsidered valid: A. ajax and A. louisae. Three other species were once also assigned to the genus, but these were later revealed to belong to .
Brontosaurus itself was once thought to be the same animal as Apatosaurus, and for over 100 years, it was thought Marsh had mistakenly created Brontosaurus by mixing bones from an Apatosaurus and a Camarasaurus, but examinations in 2015 revealed that Brontosaurus was indeed a real dinosaur; the sister taxon, or closest relative to Apatosaurus.
Apatosaurus was native to what is now the Morrison Formation of North America, which includes the states of Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, and New Mexico among others. It would have lived alongside a wide array of genera from Stegosaurus, to Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus, along with Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, , Brontosaurus, Camarasaurus, , and many other sauropods, Stegosaurs, Ankylosaurs, theropods, and ornithopods. The fact that so many large sauropods lived in the same place and at the same time suggests that there was niche partitioning that could sustain such large numbers of giant herbivores.
Much is known about Apatosaurus and its lifestyle, since it is well-studied and known from many good skeletons. Apatosaurus is believed to have had a lifespan of at least 31 years, and reached near-adult size by age 10 and breeding age by 19 years old. Juveniles may have been bipedal when small, as evidenced by fossil footprints that suggest they could run on their hind legs for short periods. However, this is disputed. Like all sauropods, Apatosaurus was warm-blooded. Adults were on average 69-75 feet long and weighed 30-35 tons, but several specimens exist showing the largest adult Apatosaurus could likely reach nearly 100 feet long and 80 tons. Due to its thick neck, it is believed that Apatosaurus may have used its neck for fighting similarly to giraffes. The neck was also quite flexible and could help the dinosaur reach plants at multiple different levels. The whiplike tail was used for defense, and possibly as a way for adults to keep physical contact with their herd-mates as they traveled. The idea that the tail was used as a sonic whip has been tested and disproven, as it would prove too catastrophic to Apatosaurus and severely damage their tails. Inspire of this, the whiplike tail may have still been a powerful enough deterrent to predators even if whipped at slower speeds, as the broken ribs of an Allosaurus that was apparently struck by a sauropod's tail clearly shows.
==Appearances==
===Fantasia===
Apatosaurus appears in The Rite of Spring segment. It was first seen among a herd of other herbivores eating grass and drinking water. When the Tyrannosaurus rex lunged for the herbivores, Apatosaurus ran and watched its showdown with Stegosaurus. It is then seen marching with the other dinosaurs during the drought. They are then trapped in the muddy pit with other Stegosaurus, and they die of heat exhaustion and are attacked by desperately hungry Ceratosaurus.
===The Little Mermaid (TV series)===
An Apatosaurus also appears in The Little Mermaid episode "Land of the Dinosaurs", along with Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus rex.
===The Legend of Tarzan===
In "The Hidden World", Apatosaurus were seen as one of the dinosaurs in Pellucidar.
===The Good Dinosaur===
Arlo and his family are Apatosaurus, which are the central dinosaurs of the Pixar film.
==Trivia==
*Apatosaurus shares a lot of similarities with Diplodocus: both are sauropods (more specifically diplodocoids), both eat plants, and both were found in the where they both lived in the Jurassic Period of North America.
==Gallery==
===Fantasia===
Rite of Spring - Brontosaurus grazing.jpg
Rite of Spring - 2 Brontosaurus.jpg
Rite of Spring - 4 Brontosaurus.jpg
Rite of Spring - 6 Brontosaurus.png
Rite of Spring - Herbivorous dinosaurs stuck in mud while 2 Ceratosaurus attack.jpg
===The Little Mermaid (TV series)===
Landofthedinosaurs81.jpg|Ariel finds frozen dinosaurs
Landofthedinosaurs92.jpg
Landofthedinosaurs112.jpg|Ariel finds Flounder frozen
Landofthedinosaurs126.jpg
Landofthedinosaurs131.jpg
Landofthedinosaurs164.jpg
===Miscellaneous===
Dinosaur species book in Tarzan.jpg|An Apatosaurus under a Triceratops in a book in The Legend of Tarzan episode "Tarzan and the Hidden World"
Apatosaurus herd in Pellucidar.jpg|An Apatosaurus herd in Pellucidar
Apatosaurus grazing.png
Toy Story 3 - Rex and Sunnyside dinos.png|Rex surrounded by various dinosaur species in Toy Story 3, one of them being a purple Apatosaurus
Rite of Spring Concept.jpg
Bronto concept art.jpg
Bronto concept art 2.jpg
Bronto concept art 3.jpg
Prehistoric jungle.jpg
Disney Dinosaur herd stuck in swamp concept.jpg
Bronto-sketch-0.jpg
Bronto-sketch-1.png
Bronto-sketch-2.png
Bronto-sketch-3.jpg
Bronto-model-sheet.png
Bronto-model-sheet 2.png
Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus coloring page.jpg
Apato and T-Rex assembly from World of Energy.jpg
AMNH Apatosaurus.jpg|A skeleton of Apatosaurus at the 
==External links==
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