Dinosaur Fun Facts
Apatosaurus
The Apatosaurus lived about 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period and is one of the largest animals ever to have walked the Earth. This dinosaur hatched from an egg that was about 1 foot long. It grew quickly, taking only 10-15 years to reach its full size of about 75 feet long and over 50,000 pounds! The dinosaur at our entrance, Humphrey, is an Apatosaurus (dressed as Rudolph for the holidays this year!)
Stegosaurus
The Stegosaurus lived about 159-144 million years ago in the late Jurassic period and is easily recognizable by its plates and distinctive tail spikes. These spikes could grow up to 3 feet long!
Spinosaurus
This carnivorous dinosaur lived during the Middle Cretaceous period, about 93-100 million years ago, and was the largest carnivorous dinosaur. Spinosaurus grew even larger than the T-Rex, measuring up to 60 feet long and weighing up to 9.9 tons. The name ‘Spinosaurus’ means “spine lizard” referring to the large, flat back spines that grew up to 7 feet!
Sauropelta
Sauropelta was an armored dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period, 116-91 million years ago. Sauropelta grew about 25 feet long and weighed over 3 tons (about 3-4 cars). With horn-covered plates, the Sauropelta was heavily protected from carnivores. As an herbivore, it had to eat a lot of plants to grow and survive.