Fun Atlantosaurus Facts For Kids

Atlantosaurus montanus, synonym to Titanosaurus montanus or Titanosaurus montanus Marsh, was named by Othniel Marsh in 1877.

Marsh's first choice for the name was Titanosaurus, but the name was already used by Richard Lydekker, so Marsh had to rename its fossils.

Atlantosaurus was also part of the infamous Bone Wars from the 19th century, infamously known for the time when scientific methodology suffered in favor of pursuit of academic acclaim.

At the time when Atlantosaurus was about to be named, the holotype fossils, which are the two vertebrae, had air-filled pockets, which were then considered as unique characteristics for the dinosaur.

However, later it was discovered that this feature was constantly generic with all the Sauropod dinosaurs, making the Atlantosaurus a dubious genus of Sauropod.

Also, the vertebrae of Atlantosaurus are noted to be Diplodocoid Sauropod, which means that the dinosaur is very similar to Apatosaurus and might actually even be synonymous with Apatosaurus.

A lot of information regarding the Atlantosaurus montanus can be found in reference to Marsh, O.C, 1877, 'Notice of a new gigantic dinosaur', American Journal of Science.

For more relatable content, check out these Thotobolosaurus facts and Efraasia facts for kids.

Atlantosaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Atlantosaurus'?

The name of this dinosaur, Atlantosaurus, is pronounced as 'At-lan-to-sore-us'.

What type of dinosaur was an Atlantosaurus?

The Atlantosaurus montanus, synonym Titanosaurus montanus (Marsh), is similar to an Apatosaurus. However, its genus is doubtful because of a lot of reasons; that is why it is considered as nomen dubium (dubious name).

It is believed that the Atlantosaurus is a dubious genus of the Sauropod dinosaur. They are believed to be Sauropods based on the fossils found. Their skeletal remains discovered, and the vertebrae of Atlantosaurus found were immense in size and had pleurocoels (air-filled pockets) which are also found in Sauropods.

In which geological period did the Atlantosaurus roam the earth?

According to the American Journal of Science, Atlantosaurus is an upper Jurassic Sauropod that existed during the period of Late Jurassic.

When did Atlantosaurus become extinct?

It is believed that Atlantosaurus montanus became extinct somewhere around the Tithonian Age.

Where did Atlantosaurus live?

The Atlantosaurus' fossils were found in the USA in Colorado. The species is believed to be living 157.3 million years ago in the parts of North America, now known from the Morrison Formation.

What was the Atlantosaurus' habitat?

The Atlantosaurus montanus, synonym - Titanosaurus montanus Marsh, is believed to have been a dinosaur preferring terrestrial habitat. The habitat from the late Jurassic period is known to be warm, moist, and full of tropical breezes. Forests full of ferns, cycads, and conifers were widespread at that time.

Who did Atlantosaurus live with?

It is unknown yet that what exact species did the Atlantosaurus lived with during the Late Jurassic period. But if this dinosaur is, in fact, Apatosaurus as anticipated, then during the late Jurassic period, it must have lived alongside other dinosaur species like Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.

How long did Atlantosaurus live?

This upper Jurassic Sauropod is believed to live for from 157.3 million years ago to the Tithonian age on the earth.

How did they reproduce?

Like all other dinosaurs, the Atlantosaurus montanus reproduces by laying eggs, also called oviparous reproduction.  

Atlantosaurus Fun Facts

What did Atlantosaurus look like?

According to the American Journal of Science, Atlantosaurus' were usually dinosaurs with a long neck, quadruped (four-legged), and spatulate teeth (teeth that are broad at the tip and narrow at the neck).

They also had tiny heads, massive bodies, and long tails, and their hind legs were thick, straight, and powerful.

Their legs at the end had club-like feet with five toes, out of which only the inner three toes bore claws. On the other hand, their forelimbs were more slender and were basically pillar-like hands that were built in a way to support weight, and often only the thumb bore claw.

In many of the illustrations, Sauropods are inaccurately depicted with hooves capping the clawless digits of the feet or more than three claws on their hands.

How many bones did an Atlantosaurus have?

Very few fossils have been collected for this species up till now, so it is unsure how many bones the dinosaur exactly had. However, their fossil representation consists of two vertebrae, a thighbone, pubic bone, and ischium. The skeletal remains discovered, and the two posterior sacral vertebrae of Atlantosaurus found are immense in size and have pleurocoels (air-filled pockets).

How did they communicate?

The information on how Titanosaurus montanus Marsh would have communicated is not available right now. But in general, dinosaurs are believed to have communicated both vocally and visually since the communication would have been essential during the acts of defensive posturing, courtship behavior, and territory fights.

How big was Atlantosaurus?

The Atlantosaurus' size was estimated to be 114.8 ft (35 m) by Marsh based on the assumption that the thighbone of Atlantosaurus would be 8.2 ft (2.5 m) in length. But it was later discovered that the length of the femur was 6.2 ft (1.9 m).

How fast could an Atlantosaurus move?

The Atlantosaurus is believed to be an actively mobile dinosaur species. They would need the mobility to actively avoid becoming food for the bigger carnivorous dinosaurs.

How much did an Atlantosaurus weigh?

It is believed that the Atlantosaurus weighed approximately 50.75 US tons (46.04 met ton).

What were the male and female names of the species?

Male and female dinosaurs are not given separate names.

What would you call a baby Atlantosaurus?

Since the Atlantosaurus babies are born by hatching the eggs, they can be called hatchlings or nestlings.

What did they eat?

According to the American Journal of Science, these dinosaurs are strict herbivores like all Sauropods.

How aggressive were they?

It is unknown how aggressive Atlantosaurus was, but they won't be very aggressive in nature given their herbivore diet. In fact, it is believed that Sauropods were not aggressive at all.

Did you know...

During the 19th century Bone Wars between Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, Atlantosaurus was the first described Sauropod. The Bone Wars are so infamous because, during this time, scientific methodology suffered in favor of pursuit of academic acclaim.

What does the name 'Atlantosaurus' mean?

Initially, Othniel Charles Marsh, professor of Paleontology at Yale University (then called Yale College), wanted to name the species Titanosaurus. But he soon realized that name was already used by Richard Lydekker to describe a different Sauropod species found in India.

So Marsh named the dinosaur Atlantosaurus montanus. Atlantosaurus means 'Atlas lizard', and according to Greek mythology, Atlas is a Titan that was condemned to hold up the heavens or the sky for eternity. The large size of the dinosaur can be the inspiration behind the name.

Who discovered Atlantosaurus?

The specimen YPM 1835 was found in the Lake Quarry Number 1 in the Morrison Formation of Colorado, the United States, by Arthur Lakes. The species was then described and named by Othniel Charles Marsh, a professor of Paleontology at Yale University (then called Yale College).

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Rapetosaurus facts and Vulcanodon surprising facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Atlantosaurus coloring pages.

Main image by Tadek Kurpaski and second image by Durbed.

*We've been unable to source an image of Atlantosaurus montanus and have used an image of Apatosaurus louisae instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of an Atlantosaurus montanus, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.