Name:
Euskelosaurus (Greek for "well-limbed lizard"); pronounced YOU-skell-oh-SORE-us
Habitat:
Woodlands of Africa
Historical Period:
Late Triassic (225-205 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 40 feet long and 2 tons
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Thick trunk; long neck and tail
About Euskelosaurus:
Fifty million years before its sauropod descendants roamed the earth, Euskelosaurus--which is classified as a prosauropod, or "before the sauropods"--must have been a common sight in the woodlands of Africa, judging by the number of bones that have been found there. This was the first dinosaur ever to be discovered in Africa, in the mid-1800's, and it was certainly one of the largest land creatures of the Triassic period. Euskelosaurus was a close relative of two other large prosauropods, Riojasaurus in South America and its fellow African herbivore Melanorosaurus.
