Fun Camarasaurus Facts For Kids

Camarasaurus means 'chambered lizard'. They were present on Earth during the late Jurassic period around 155-145 million years ago. The specimen found by paleontologists of this dinosaur was nearly complete.

Camarasaurus was found near Utah in North America. Their skull was of a typical square shape and had numerous strong and long teeth inside their jaw. They had long necks and long tails.

Like all sauropods, they also had a big rock-like body with four pillar legs. They are considered as one of the biggest dinosaurs that lived during the Late Jurassic period. C. supremus has two subspecies namely C. lentus and C. grandis.

Now, this was just the introduction. For more interesting facts, read on!

And for more relevant articles, read our Compsognathus facts and Dakotaraptor facts for kids.

Camarasaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Camarasaurus'?

Camarasaurus pronunciation is not that tough. Camarasaurus is commonly pronounced as 'kam-a-ra-saw-us'. Camarasaurus were sauropod dinosaur species that lived in the continent of North America. Camarasaurus fossils were found in Colorado and Utah and according to research, they inhabited the earth during the late Jurassic period around 155-145 million years ago.

What type of dinosaur was a Camarasaurus?

Camarasaurus or chambered lizard was a herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America. They were species of quadrupedal dinosaurs who were present around 155-145 million years ago. They belonged to the dinosaur clade Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Macronaria, and Camarasauromorpha.

They were in the family Camarasauridae and sub-family Camarasaurinae. Their genus name was Camarasaurus and their scientific name was Camarasaurus supremus. They were huge dinosaurs in general.

In which geological period did the Camarasaurus roam the Earth?

Camarasaurus roamed the Earth during the late Jurassic period. Camarasaurus fossils were found in Morrison Formation and it is said that they existed around 155-145 million years ago. They were massive-sized dinosaurs who inhabited North America.

When did the Camarasaurus become extinct?

Studying the Camarasaurus skeleton, it was found that they were sauropods who lived on the Earth during the late Jurassic period. Paleontologists say that these sauropods lived around 155-145 million years ago. Now it can be assumed that they went extinct after that by the end of the Jurassic period.

Where did a Camarasaurus live?

Camarasaurus dinosaurs were terrestrial. These sauropods roamed on land in search of food. They would have lived in forests or open lands.

What was a Camarasaurus' habitat?

According to the specimen found, Camarasaurus dinosaurs were sauropods who roamed the continent of North America. Skeleton fossils of the species of Camarasaurus were found in the Morrison Formation of Colorado and Utah. It was a nearly complete skeleton. They would have inhabited forests, marsh areas, or open lands.

Who did a Camarasaurus live with?

C. supremus probably lived in groups. They were land-dwelling sauropod dinosaurs who ate plants. We know that herbivorous animals live in groups to protect each other from predators.

How long did a Camarasaurus live?

As per the evidence, sauropod dinosaurs had an average lifespan of around 70-80 years. But according to a lot of experts, C. supremus, being a sauropod, had an average lifespan of around 26 years.

How did they reproduce?

Camarasaurus were herbivorous reptiles who lived in the continent of North America. They were big dinosaurs. We know that reptiles reproduce by laying eggs and C. supremus would have done the same too. We can assume that after their breeding season, they also would have laid eggs.

Camarasaurus Fun Facts

What did a Camarasaurus look like?

Camarasaurus, or chambered lizards, were huge herbivorous dinosaurs. They lived in North America and grazed on plants and leaves from tall trees with the help of their long neck.

Their skeleton remains were found in the Morrison Formation and were nearly complete. Camarasaurus belonged to the dinosaur clade Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Macronaria, and Camarasauromorpha. They were huge dinosaurs with a long neck, a long tail, big body, small skull, four pillar-like legs, and flat feet.

Their vertebrae were quite long as started from their skull and ended on the tip of their tail. Camarasaurus skull or head was small in size but with a twist.

They had a typical square-shaped skull bone with a blunt snout. Camarasaurus teeth were bigger and stronger compared to other sauropod dinosaurs like apatosaurus. These big teeth prove that they could chew even the hard and strong parts of trees.

Their body was like other sauropods. They had a long and curved neck, a big and heavy body portion, and a long and fat tail.

They had four huge and strong legs that carried them. In their feet, there were five fingers and out of that three bore claws. Their shoulder bone was a bit high placed and created a slope on their back (vertebrae).

Their front leg bones were smaller than their hind legs. Camarasaurus was huge.

How many bones did a Camarasaurus have?

Even though the fossil of the Camarasaurus was nearly complete, still it is not known exactly how many bones they had. Dinosaurs had around 200 bones in their body. Maybe Camarasaurus also had a similar number of bones.

How did they communicate?

C. lentus supremus were plant-eating dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period. We can assume that they would have communicated through growling or screeching voices. Their exact vocal texture is not known.

How big was a Camarasaurus?

Specimen remains found by paleontologists say that Camarasaurus were big land reptiles. Subspecies C. lentus was smaller in size and was around 49 ft (14.9 m) in length while the C. supremus was around 75 ft (22.9 m) in length and 4.7 tons (4637.7 kg) in weight. They were a slow-moving calm species.

How fast could a Camarasaurus move?

C. lentus were huge dinosaurs. They had heavy bones and that's why could not display an agile behavior. In order to cope up with this size, they moved slowly and peacefully.

How much did a Camarasaurus weigh?

Camarasaurus had a rock-like body with a long tail, long neck, and small skull. Their body weight was around 4.7 tons (4637.7 kg) and their body length was around 75 ft (22.9 m). C. supremus was taller than C. lentus and was around 23 ft (7 m) tall.

What were the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names given to the males and females of this species.

What would you call a baby Camarasaurus?

Like all other baby dinosaurs, baby or young (juvenile) Camarasaurus are also known as hatchlings.

What did they eat?

Camarasaurus were plant-eating dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic period who lived on earth from 155-145 million years ago.

How aggressive were they?

They were calm dinosaurs in nature.

Did you know...

Camarasaurus was discovered by Oramel W Lucas in the year 1887.

Who named the Camarasaurus?

Camarasaurus was named by Othniel Charles Marsh. He named the dinosaur Morosaurus grandis which is now known as Camarasaurus. Camarasaurus means 'chambered lizard'.

How many teeth does a Camarasaurus have?

Camarasaurus had big and strong teeth in their mouth but how many teeth were there is exactly not known.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Pachycephalosaurus fun facts or Spinophorosaurus facts for kids.

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