Fun Seitaad Facts For Kids

Navajo's 'Sand Monster' or Seitaad was one of the basal sauropodomorph dinosaur discoveries from the large tree of this genus. The species was discovered in the Navajo sandstone formation located in Utah and were one of the first to be located from this region.

Seitaad was found in the year 2004 by local historian Joe Pachak while hiking in Utah. The species was supposedly 'swallowed' by sand dunes about 185 million years ago, probably why its bones and structures were preserved well-articulated.

The structure currently resides in the National History Museum, Utah.

Seitaad was a comparatively smaller species from the sauropodomorph dinosaurs, which later evolved into giant herbivore titans. The species were believed to have belonged to the Early Jurassic epoch of the Mesozoic era, occurring around 175 million to 200 million years ago.

Seitaad Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Seitaad'?

Seitaad ruessi would be pronounced as 'SAY-eet-AWD ROO-ess-EYE'.

What type of dinosaur was a Seitaad?

The Navajo sandstone found species Seitaad belonged to the genus of Sauropod dinosaurs found in the Lower Jurassic Navajo sandstone from Southern Utah, United States of America.

In which geological period did the Seitaad roam the Earth?

The Seitaad roamed the Earth during the Pliensbachian Age of the Early Jurassic period, which lasted around 174.1 million years ago.

When did the Seitaad become extinct?

The sauropod dinosaurs Seitaad became extinct when the Early Jurassic period ended, which was around 174.1 million years ago.

Where did a Seitaad live?

Seitaad ruessi fossils were found in the Navajo sandstone, buried under a sand dune in the Southern Utah parts, which is now located in the United States of America. The natural history of Seitaad being part of Southern Utah's landscape is undoubtedly evidence of this creature being inhabited in the same region.

What was a Seitaad's habitat?

Seitaad's, just like other sauropodomorph dinosaurs, lived in terrestrial habitats. The natural history of such habitats includes varying land types such as grasslands, drylands, wetlands, marshes, plains, deserts, and shores as well.

Who did a Seitaad live with?

Seitaad ruessi was a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur, living along with other early sauropodomorphs who roamed across the region with the prosauropod Seitaad species. In addition, sauropodomorphs such as Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Diplodocus were known to live in the same timeline but excavated in different Utah rocks.

How long did a Seitaad live?

The exact age or life span for the Southern Utah sand monster Seitaad is not known, but one can assume its age through the average life span of sauropodomorphs. Sauropodomorphs lived for around 70 - 80 years, and Seitaad probably shared the same age range.

How did they reproduce?

The Seitaad is believed to reproduce the same way as its modern-day oviparous members from the class of reptiles, that is, through laying eggs. Over the years, many specimens of eggs have also been discovered, which led paleontologists to conclude that the dinosaurs laid around 3 - 20 eggs in one clutch.

Seitaad Fun Facts

What did a Seitaad look like?

Seitaad ruessi appeared like its gigantic relative from the same group carrying generic sauropodomorph features. It had an elongated neck, fairly long tail, small head, and walked on two legs, though its claws projected a different structure.

Unlike sauropods, Seitaad had large hands comprising curved claws, supposedly used for digging or catching predators. The skull from the Early Jurassic was not preserved, but its head shape is assumed to be the same as the other sauropodomorph dinosaurs.

How many bones did a Seitaad have?

The only known skeleton remains of Seitaad were buried deep inside a sand rock and missing its head, neck, and tail.

The skeleton was articulately preserved other than these parts, such as parts of eleven articulated vertebrae, entire left and right pectoral girdle parts lacking only the margin area, humerus, and forelimb metacarpals, and much of the complete pelvic girdle with the complete ilium and most of the ischium.

How did they communicate?

Although one can't really know how dinosaurs communicated, it is a popular belief that the Early Jurassic species used vocal and visual means of communication to initiate contact with each other.

How big was a Seitaad?

According to the studies conducted on Seitaad's preserved skeleton, the species was 10-15 ft (3 – 4.5 m) long, 3-4 ft (1 m) tall, and weighed around 150-200 lb (70-90 kg). Its size was comparatively smaller than the usual size of its tall vegetarian relatives.

For example, Brachiosaurus was 30-43 ft (9-13 m) tall and weighed around 61,000-1,27,000 lb (28,000-58,000 kg), fairly greater than Seitaad.

How fast could a Seitaad move?

There is no data on record that can tell us about the speed at which the Seitaad ran or walked. Only a partial skeleton of this dinosaur with the head, neck, and tail missing has been discovered, so one cannot calculate the speed at which species of dinosaurs walked or ran.

However, the highest speed sauropods could cover 4.5 mph (7.25 kph), so one can assume its relative Seitaad to have a similar moving speed.

How much did a Seitaad weigh?

The estimated weight of the Seitaad is 150-200 lb (70-90 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names assigned to the male and female sexes of the species, and they are collectively known as Seitaad.

What would you call a baby Seitaad?

The baby dinosaur of a Seitaad would be called a hatchling or juvenile.

What did they eat?

The species of Dinosaurs were herbivores in nature and ate the type of vegetation that existed in the early Jurassic period, including leaves, grass, bushes.

How aggressive were they?

No one can determine the specific behavior of the dinosaurs because they went extinct millions of years back, long before humans even existed. They could be aggressive, or maybe they only attacked or fed on other organisms when they felt the need to hunt in order to survive.

Although one can assume Seitaad, being a herbivore, was not very aggressive.

Did you know...

Seitaad meaning is based on Navajo folklore of a sand dune monster.

The species name 'ruessi' honors a young artist, poet, and naturalist, Everett Ruess, who oddly disappeared in 1934 while exploring southern Utah.

Seitaad was a quadrupedal dinosaur.

Seitaad hands contained a special 'thumb', which was not present in its relative species of sauropods. Although the function of this thumb as its curved claw was not discovered, it is believed the herbivore dinosaur used it to catch tall tree leaves or as a defense against predators.

The species was found in the Glen Canyon Group of Navajo sandstone formation, dating to the Lower Jurassic era, located near the Comb Ridge, San Juan County, Utah.

Paleontologists took several days to remove species buried deep inside the sandstone.

The fossil record of North America was not very prominent. Seitaad helped fill a great gap in narrating the presence of sauropodomorph dinosaurs in the unexplored region.

What does the name 'Seitaad' mean?

The genus name Seitaad is taken from 'Seit'aad', the mythological sand-desert monsters from the Navajo (Diné folklore) creation legend that is known to swallow their victims in sand dunes.

The reason behind this name is Seitaad was found to be 'swallowed' under a similar desert in Navajo sandstone formation in Utah, containing sand dune that turned into rock and preserved the skeleton of this species around 185 million years ago.

What fossils are the Seitaads known from?

The Navajo sandstone found species Seitaad is known for its well-articulated skeleton, which was found preserved neatly in sand dunes turned rock million years ago. Located in the National History Museum of Utah, the discovery of this fossil was initially made in the Navajo sandstone formation, where the skeleton was neatly present with all of its bones.

The only parts missing from this discovery were the head, neck, and tail of the 'sand monster'.We've been unable to source an image of Seitaad and have used an image of Unaysaurus instead.

If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Seitaad, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.

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