Brontosaurus

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## Bio

***Brontosaurus*** (/ˌbrɒntəˈsɔːrəs/; meaning "thunder lizard" from the Greek words βροντή, *brontē* "thunder" and σαῦρος, *sauros* "lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period. It was described by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879, the type species being dubbed ***B. excelsus***, based on a partial skeleton lacking a skull found in Como Bluff, Wyoming. In subsequent years, two more species of *Brontosaurus* were named: *B. parvus* in 1902 and *B. yahnahpin* in 1994. *Brontosaurus* lived about 156 to 146 million years ago (mya) during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages in the Morrison Formation of what is now Utah and Wyoming. For decades, the animal was thought to have been a taxonomic synonym of its close relative *Apatosaurus*, but a 2015 study by Emmanuel Tschopp and colleagues found it to be distinct. It has seen widespread representation in popular culture, being the archetypal "long-necked" dinosaur in general media.

The anatomy of *Brontosaurus* is well known, with fossils demonstrating that it was large, long-necked, and quadrupedal with a long tail terminating in a whip-like structure. The cervical vertebrae are notably extremely robust and heavily-built, in contrast to its lightly built relatives *Diplodocus* and *Barosaurus*. The forelimbs were short and stout whereas the hindlimbs were elongated and thick, supported respectively by a heavily built shoulder girdle and pelvis. Several size estimates have been made, with the largest species *B. excelsus* reaching up to 21–22 m (69–72 ft) from head to tail and weighing in at 15–17 t (17–19 short tons), whereas the smaller *B. parvus* only got up to 19 m (62 ft) long. Juvenile specimens of *Brontosaurus* are known, with younger individuals growing rapidly to adult size in as little as 15 years.

*Brontosaurus* has been classified within the family Diplodocidae, which was a group of sauropods that had shorter necks and longer tails compared to other families like brachiosaurs and mamenchisaurs. Diplodocids first evolved in the Middle Jurassic but peaked in diversity during the Late Jurassic with forms like *Brontosaurus* before becoming extinct in the Early Cretaceous. *Brontosaurus* is a genus in the subfamily Apatosaurinae, which includes only it and *Apatosaurus,* which are distinguished by their firm builds and thick necks. Although Apatosaurinae was named in 1929, the group was not used validly until an extensive 2015 paper, which found *Brontosaurus* to be valid. However, the status of *Brontosaurus* is still uncertain, with some paleontologists still considering it a synonym of *Apatosaurus*.

Being from the Morrison Formation, *Brontosaurus* coexisted with a menagerie of other taxa such as the sauropods *Diplodocus, Barosaurus,* and *Brachiosaurus;* herbivorous ornithischians *Stegosaurus, Dryosaurus,* and *Nanosaurus;* as well as the carnivorous theropods *Allosaurus, Marshosaurus* and *Ceratosaurus.* This formation was a hotspot of sauropod biodiversity, with over 16 recognized genera, which resulted in niche partitioning between different sauropods.