sauropod

Everyday

A sauropod was a huge, plant-eating dinosaur with a very long neck, a long tail, a small head and four thick legs like pillars, such as Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus and Argentinosaurus. tree →

In the lessons

In dinosaur lessons sauropods were the biggest animals ever to walk on land: some were longer than three buses and heavier than ten elephants. Their long necks let them reach leaves high up or sweep over a wide area without walking. They laid eggs about the size of a football. The name means «lizard foot». Phrases: «long-necked sauropods», «sauropod footprints», «a herd of sauropods».

Examples

• Diplodocus was a sauropod with a whip-like tail. tree →
• Sauropods were the largest animals ever to walk on land. tree →
• We saw sauropod footprints in the rock. tree →
• A sauropod's head was tiny for its giant body. tree →
• Sauropods swallowed leaves without chewing them. tree →
• Brachiosaurus was a sauropod that could reach the treetops. tree →

Note

Plural «sauropods». Say SORE-uh-pod. Trap: the blue whale (living today, in the sea) is heavier than any sauropod we know. Sauropods were not the same as the «Brontosaurus» of old books, although Brontosaurus is a sauropod name that scientists have recently brought back.