Alamosaurus

Alamosaurus
Classification
Name	Alamosaurus sanjuanensis
Name Meaning	Ojo Alamo Lizard
Species	Dinosaur (Sauropod)
Family	Saltasauridae
Diet	Herbivore
Physiology
Description	The last known Sauropod
Attributes	Long neck; large size
Height	11 m (36 fet)
Length	30 m (98 ft)
Weight	80 t (176,370 Ibs)
Biography
Era	Late Cretaceous
Time	70 to 65 MYA
Discovered	1922
Locations	North America

Alamosaurus (name meaning "Ojo Alamo Lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod that originated during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now North America. The largest dinosaur, let alone sauropod, known from North America, it is also one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered.

Because of its massive weight and size, its knees are bent. They live in large herds with children, males and females. They eat loads of plants from the tree tops with there long necks. They are one of the last sauropods to live in North America, because Hadrosaurus like Edmontosaurus and Ceratopsians like Triceratops were the more common herbivores.

In the Series 2 finale "Death of a Dynasty II: The Return of the King", a herd of ten Alamosaurus were brought to the park from Late Cretaceous Montana of 65 million years ago. They reside in the Sauropod Savannah Enclosure with many of their other fellow sauropod relatives and recently welcomed hatchlings.

Facts

Era & Discovery

Alamosaurus sanjuanensis was first discovered in San Juan County, New Mexico. The rock unit in which it was found, the Ojo Alamo Formation, was named for a local trading post, the Ojo Alamo. Alamosaurus roamed over much of southwestern North America during the latest part of the Cretaceous.

Physical Attributes

Alamosaurus skeleton

By far the largest dinosaur, let alone sauropod, discovered in North America, Alamosaurus was among the largest dinosaurs known, comparable in size to sauropods like Argentinosaurus. Growing to stand around 11 m (36 ft) tall, measuring around 30 m (98 ft) in length, and weighing around 80 t (176,000 lb), Alamosaurus was a gigantic quadrupedal herbivore with the long neck, the long tail, the relatively long limbs and the body partly covered with bony armor.

Behavior & Traits

A discovery in 2015 revealed that the body of Alamosaurus had a covering of osteoderms, which is a trait of most saltasaurids. It is presumed that they were for protection against predators, although the animal was already large enough to be practically invulnerable to all predators in its habitat.

Trivia

• Alamosaurus is the last sauropod brought to the park.
• The sound effects used for Alamosaurus is elephant bellow with slowed down.