Every Known Megasauropod | Earth’s Real Life Kaiju

Описание: Sauropod dinosaurs were the most massive animals to ever walk the earth. The early sauropod ancestors, sauropodomorphs from the Triassic Period, were actually bipedal. Our current understanding of their skeletal morphology indicates that sauropods and theropods, the group that includes most carnivorous dinosaurs like Utahraptor and Spinosaurus, share a common ancestor that split off from the rest of the dinosaurs. This means that Diplodocus and T. rex are more closely related to one another than Diplodocus is to Triceratops. The very first saurischian dinosaurs--the lizard-hipped group that both theropods and sauropods belong to--may have looked something like Herrerasaurus. Bipedal, with long clawed arms and sharp teeth. We see the theropods dive deep into that build, while the sauropods--on the other evolutionary branch--use their sharp teeth not for cutting flesh, but cutting leaves. The earliest sauropodomorphs like Chromogisaurus superficially looked like tiny theropods, with only small differences in the skeleton. Later Triassic sauropodomorphs like Plateosaurus resemble a cross between a theropod and sauropod, with their bipedal stance, powerful clawed forelimbs, and long but not unreasonably long neck.

Thumbnail art by ElReptileano.