Dino card No. 0331 of 2,015

Camarasaurus

Say it: KAM-ər-ə-SOR-əs

Name means: “chambered lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Camarasaurus was a giant, long-necked plant-eater that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic. It had a bulky body, a wide ribcage, and a surprisingly large skull for a sauropod. More than 530 fossils have been found, making it the most common dinosaur in the Morrison Formation.1

Lived

162 to 143 million years ago2

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming, USA; also possibly Zimbabwe and Germany1 2

Food

Plants1

Length

18 to 23 m1

estimates vary by species

Weight

20 tonnes to 50 tonnes1

Height

4 to 5 m1

at the shoulders

Artist's life restoration of Camarasaurus — How Camarasaurus may have looked, by Erwin S. Christman. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Camarasaurus means 'chambered lizard' because its backbone had hollow chambers, which helped lighten its skeleton.1

It had a relatively short neck and tail compared to other sauropods, and its front legs were longer than its back legs, making its shoulders higher than its hips.1

More than 530 specimens have been found, including several nearly complete skeletons, so scientists know a lot about this dinosaur.1

Camarasaurus lived alongside other famous dinosaurs like Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, and Allosaurus in the Morrison Formation.1

Its teeth had microscopic pits and scratches that show adults ate tough, coarse plants, while juveniles ate softer food.1

A nearly complete skeleton of a young Camarasaurus (CM 11338) was found with its neck curved upward, but that pose may have happened after death, not when it was alive.1

Myth buster

Myth: Camarasaurus could hold its neck straight up like a giraffe.

Truth: Scientists think its neck was held more horizontally or with a slight downward slope, not vertical like a swan.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Camarasaurus
Named by: Cope 18772
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Camarasauridae2
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria2
Age of the rocks: 162 to 143 million years (Oxfordian to Tithonian)2
Rock formations: Morrison, Kadzi, Süntel2
Countries: USA, Zimbabwe, Germany2
Fossil records: 138 in the Paleobiology Database2
Also known as: Cathetosaurus, Caulodon, Uintasaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)2
Discovery: Camarasaurus was named in 1877 by Edward Drinker Cope, based on fossils from Garden Park, Colorado. Soon after, his rival Othniel Charles Marsh named similar fossils Morosaurus, but those are now considered the same genus.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate exactly how Camarasaurus held its neck and whether it could rear up on its hind legs to reach high plants.1

Where the facts come from

Camarasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Camarasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.