brontosaurus

Everyday

A huge plant-eating dinosaur with a very long neck, long tail and four thick legs; its name means "thunder lizard". tree →

In the lessons

In science and dinosaur lessons the brontosaurus is a famous long-necked sauropod. Its story is a lesson in how science changes: for many years scientists said it was really the same as Apatosaurus, so the name was dropped, but newer studies said it was different enough to be its own kind again. Phrases: a brontosaurus skeleton.

Examples

• The brontosaurus had a very long neck. tree →
• Brontosaurus means "thunder lizard". tree →
• The brontosaurus ate plants, not meat. tree →
• We saw a brontosaurus skeleton at the museum. tree →
• Scientists argued for years about whether brontosaurus was a real separate dinosaur. tree →
• A brontosaurus was longer than a school bus. tree →

Note

Plural: brontosauruses (common) or brontosauri. Name: Brontosaurus (capital B) in science writing. Myth: it did not live with humans; dinosaurs died out millions of years before people.