Fun Ultrasaurus Facts For Kids

Iram Ashfaq
Oct 20, 2022 By Iram Ashfaq
Originally Published on Sep 28, 2021
Discover these most exciting Ultrasaurus facts that distinguish it from other dinosaur species.
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Age: 3-18
Read time: 8.2 Min

The dinosaur named Ultrasaurus or Supersaurus was an herbivore, meaning it only ate plants. It lived on the island of Madagascar about 70 million years back in a woodland setting with lots of ferns and palms.

Ultrasauros, a specimen of the family Ultrasauridae, is known as the biggest dinosaur ever discovered.

It is estimated that it weighed 60 tons (54,431.1 kg)!

These Ultrasauros were herbivorous dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period in North America and South Korea about 150 million years ago.

With several unique features such as taller neural spines on their vertebrae giving them a more prominent ridge along their back and front teeth fused together forming tooth batteries for chewing tough plant material, they are very interesting dinosaurs indeed!

Let’s learn more facts about the Ultrasaurus! Unlike most dinosaurs which were reptiles or amphibians, this massive creature is considered by some biologists as being more closely related to modern birds due to having evolved feathers before they went extinct 65 million years ago according to new research published.

It had a long neck like Giraffatitan, but it also had many more differences than similarities with this species.

The Ultrasauros truly dwarfed every other sauropod during the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous period in terms of size and weight.

This animal's name comes from its tremendous height! But since little fossilized evidence remains from the Dry Mesa at the Morris Formation as found by Jensen for us to study, we don't know whether or not these Ultrasauros could stand up straight only on their hind legs without breaking them under that immense weight given their description.

The skeleton specimen of this Ultrasauros, also named Ultrasaurus, which Jensen named after the Dry Mesa, is not complete since most fossils are still being discovered today in different places around North America and South Korea. These places are where this animal once roamed freely with other Cretaceous dinosaurs during ancient times.

Read on to find out more Ultrasaurus dinosaur information!

Find more relatable, exciting content about the Puertasaurus and the Brachytrachelopan for kids!

Ultrasaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Ultrasaurus'?

The dinosaur Ultrasauros named by Haang Mook Kim is a very large dinosaur that was discovered by Jim Jensen in the United States. This would be pronounced as "Ul-trah-sarous", which sounds somewhat like its description.

What type of dinosaur was an Ultrasaurus?

The Ultrasaurus of the genus Ultrasaurus was a sauropod type species dinosaur based on its description. Ultasaurus means an 'ultra lizard'.

In which geological period did the Ultrasaurus roam the Earth?

The early Cretaceous period was home to the vertebrate Supersaurus of the genus Ultrasaurus. It was a huge herbivore of the group Ultrasaurus discovered by Kim and Jensen!

When did the Ultrasaurus become extinct?

The Supersaurus of the genus Ultrasaurus became extinct around 90 million years back in the late Cretaceous period when Cretaceous dinosaurs were beginning to decline rapidly in numbers and diversity due to a mass extinction event at the end of this era.

Where did an Ultrasaurus live?

A Supersaurus was found in forests near trees and water bodies. This made their life easy as they had access to food all day by eating leaves from tall tree branches or drinking freshwater rivers flowing by them.

They had access to food, putting them at an advantage over other dinosaurs like the Brachiosaurus who often got dehydrated or starved because it couldn't find its next meal.

What was an Ultrasaurus's habitat?

A new study by Kim suggests that the Ultrasaurus habitat, a cousin of the Brachiosaurus and the Alamosaurus (large sauropod dinosaurs), was in what is now central Colorado, North America, and South Korea.

Who did an Ultrasaurus live with?

The ultra vertebrate Supersaurus lizard of the genus Ultrasaurus red with two feet and a curved vertebra lived with other dinosaurs as suggested by Jensen and Kim. Other members of the group included a Stegosaurus and another Brachiosaur, as well as many others that we haven't discovered yet!

How long did an Ultrasaurus live?

The most fascinating thing about this dinosaur is its longevity, curved vertebra, and feet shape. Some species like the genus Ultrasauros sauropod were known to live more than 50 years!

What makes this particularly interesting is that it seems counterintuitive for creatures who had such big bodies with many sharp Ultrasaurus teeth as discovered by Kim and Jensen to last so long yet here we have evidence of one living well into old age—definitely something worth thinking about when pondering what life was like during prehistoric times.

How did they reproduce?

The question of how the Supersaurus lizard member of the sauropod of South Korea and Colorado reproduced and the Ultrasaurus prehistoric wildlife has been a topic of debate for paleontologists.

We can rule out any possibility in which females were giving birth to live young like mammals do today; instead, they probably laid eggs similar to most reptiles and dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Ultrasaurus Fun Facts

What did an Ultrasaurus look like?

The dubious Supersaurus sauropod was one of the largest dinosaurs to ever live after its discovery.

It had a huge upper jaw filled with teeth that could cut through any small plant it wanted, but because its mouth was so big, even large plants would have been easy for this giant herbivore to eat.

It is believed from fossils and free specimen bones that the skull and the scapula bone of this dinosaur may have grown to accommodate its larger jaw muscles rather than being disproportionally large for its body size due to sexual or aggressive display purposes as in other sauropods such as the ultra Tyrannosaurus rex.

A Supersaurus (later renamed) looks like it is similar to other specimens of sauropods with two feet, a strong broad shoulder, and vertebra bones.

The curved vertebra and two sharp feet set them apart.

This suborder species had a strong peculiar scapula bone and vertebra adjacent to the partial shoulder length.

How many bones did an Ultrasaurus have?

It is said after estimating from dubious fossils and the new free picture collection of these ultra-cool dinosaurs that the massive dinosaur had around 250 Ultrasaurus bones in its body! They were strong, powerful bones, especially the shoulder-length, that could withstand large forces without breaking.

It is said that the new originally relative massive dinosaur was extremely strong and withstood a lot of pressure on its various parts!

How did they communicate?

The Supersaurus (later renamed) was a large dinosaur that lived originally around the same time as other giant herbivores such as the Iguanodon and the Brachiosaurus. How these sauropods communicated with each other is unknown, but we can assume it would have been very different from how modern animals do today.

How big was an Ultrasaurus?

The Supersaurus (later renamed) was a huge dinosaur as suggested by fossils. It is estimated to have been around 1,000 ft (304.8 m) long and 800 ft (243.8 m) tall, making it one of the largest animals ever!

How fast could an Ultrasaurus move?

While we don't know for sure how fast the beast moved due to lack of Ultrasaurus fossil evidence or remains from its actual life, some scientists guess that this creature could run at speeds between 30-50 mph (48.3-80.5 kph) on land while others believe they were slow walkers who couldn't even outrun humans today.

How much did an Ultrasaurus weigh?

The giant Ultrasaurus dinosaur known as the Supersaurus is now extinct from our world after being discovered in South Korea and North Amercica by paleontologists like Jim Jensen on an expedition to excavate fossils from the Morrison formation.

The specimen was so large that it would have been impossible for scientists to move if these dinosaurs were alive today due to its heavyweight which measured at approximately 60 tons (54,431.1 kg)!

What were the male and female names of the species?

Both males and females go by the name Ultrasaurus or Supersaurus with no gender-specific terms associated. It has been found that females and males were almost identical to each other with slight differences: the male Ultrasauros was bigger than the female and it had more teeth.

What would you call a baby Ultrasaurus?

Their plant-eater babies are known by the name Ultrasaurus or Supersaurus baby sauropods. They were tiny, adorable little creatures with big eyes and chubby faces.

What did they eat?

The Ultrasauros as named by Haang Mook ate leaves, trees, cones, and shrubs. As a sauropod, it was at the top of its food chain which meant that it had no predators to threaten it so it could feed off plants such as leaves for its entire life without having any trouble with hunger or starvation.

How aggressive were they?

Ultrasauros were known for their aggressive nature. They became one of the most well-known sauropods in history because they fiercely battled over food and territory, earning them a reputation as an overall fearsome dinosaur.

Did you know...

What was bigger, the Ultrasauros or the Argentinosaurus? The answer is the Ultrasauros. The Ultrasauros actually weighed more than any other known land animal in history! It's interesting to note that the only way we know this about these sauropods today is through fossils. Although the Argentinosaurus was the tallest dinosaur, it wasn't the biggest.

What is the difference between the Brachiosaurus and the Ultrasaurus?

Ultrasaurus vs Brachiosaurus is interesting! They may appear to be the same dinosaur, but there is one very important difference between them.

While Brachiosauruses were herbivores that lived millions of years ago during the Jurassic period, Ultrasauroses were also sauropods like their namesakes but they lived in South Korea as big animals with long necks and short arms. They feasted on leaves from trees using a method called "gaping".

Was the Ultrasaurus the largest dinosaur?

So far, the Ultrasauros is the biggest dinosaur known. The new discovery of a larger, closely related species has scientists rethinking their ideas about Ultrasaurus vs Titanosaurus debate and how such sauropods roamed and grew to such an enormous Ultrasaurus size during the early Jurassic period approximately 200 million years ago.

Boulder-sized fossils from this animal were first unearthed in Australia nearly 20 years ago by paleontologist Paul Sereno who was on his honeymoon there at that time. Since then he's returned many times with colleagues and students to unearth more pieces of this puzzle leading him eventually all over Africa looking for clues as well.

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 Atrociraptor facts or Pawpawsaurus facts for kids.

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

Ultrasaurus Facts

What Did They Prey On?

Leaves, trees, cones, and shrubs

what Type of Animal were they?

Herbivores

Average Litter Size?

9-12

What Did They Look Like?

Grayish-green

How Much Did They Weigh?

60 ton (54,431.1 kg)

Skin Type

Thick scales

How Long Were They?

1,000 ft (304.8 m)

How Tall Were They?

800 ft (243.8 m)

Kingdom

Animalia

Class

Clade: Dinosauria

Genus

Ultrasaurus

Family

Saurischia

Scientific Name

Ultrasaurus tabriensis

What Were Their Main Threats?

Natural disasters

What Habitat Did They Live In?

Grass plains, coniferous forests, meadows, and tundras

Where Did They Live?

South Korea
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Written by Iram Ashfaq

Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Master of Public Health

Iram Ashfaq picture

Iram AshfaqBachelor of Dental Surgery, Master of Public Health

With a Bachelor's degree in Dental Surgery from Shaney Institute of Health Sciences and a Master's degree in Public Health from Imperial College London, Iram is a highly qualified and accomplished writer from Srinagar, India. Over the course of a year, she has acquired multiple writing certifications, focusing on health sciences and research studies. Prior to joining Kidadl, Iram gained valuable experience working as a content writer for Indian firms and interning at a New York-based company. Her expertise and passion for writing shine through in her ability to create compelling content across a variety of topics.

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