← Rex's Notes
Plateosaurus
An early giant, before the giants.
Said: PLAT-ee-uh-SOR-us
Era: Triassic · 214 to 204 million years ago
Diet: Herbivore
Habitat: Seasonal floodplains of what is now Europe
Size: about the length of a delivery truck.
What it was like
Plateosaurus is one of the oldest big dinosaurs we have good fossils of. It walked on two legs and used its hands to pull down branches.
What we know now
Among the earliest dinosaurs to evolve large body size; an evolutionary stepping-stone toward sauropods. Bone histology shows individuals reached final size at very different ages, which is unusual and may reflect resource-driven growth flexibility. Mass-mortality bonebeds suggest seasonal die-offs near drying water sources.
Notes
- Hands had a large thumb claw, possibly defensive.
- Could not pronate its hands, so it walked bipedally.
- Discovered in Germany in 1834, one of the first dinosaurs ever named.