Fact File: Plateosaurus - Discovery zone - Living Paintings

Living Paintings

Fact File: Plateosaurus

Plateosaurus feeding on tow legs, reaching its long neck high up in a tree.

Name: Plateosaurus

Meaning: Flat lizard

How to say it: PLAT-ee-oh-SAW-rus

Where found: Europe

Length: 7 metres

Height:  3-4 metres

Weight: 4 tonnes

How it walked: Walked on all four legs, but reared up to reach food

Teeth: small leaf shaped teeth

Type of feeder: Herbivore (plant eater)

Food: Tree foliage, cycads and conifers

Period: Late Triassic

When it lived: 216-210 million years ago

Type of hip: lizard-hipped

Other info: Until their appearance all herbivores had been squat, short necked animals incapable of reaching high foliage.

Borrow Triassic Rocks for a tactile image of this dinosaur from our FREE  library.

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