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Kotasaurus

By Bob Strauss, About.com

Kotasaurus (Birla Science Museum)

Name:

Kotasaurus (Greek for "Kota lizard"); pronounced KOE-ta-SORE-us

Habitat:

Woodlands of central Asia

Historical Period:

Early Jurassic (180-175 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 30 feet long and 2 tons

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Large size; relatively thin legs

About Kotasaurus:

Either a very advanced prosauropod (the early line that gave rise to the giant sauropods of the later Jurassic period) or a very early sauropod, Kotasaurus has been reconstructed from the remains of 12 separate individuals, the bones of which were found tangled together in a riverbed in India. (The most probable scenario is that a herd of Kotasaurus were drowned in a flash flood, then piled up on the bank.) Today, the only place to see a Kotasaurus skeleton is at the Birla Science Museum in Hyderabad, India.

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