A Scale Drawing of Apatosaurus ajax

Further to a number or emails that we have received in recent days, we have posted up a scale drawing of Apatosaurus, specifically Apatosaurus ajax, the first species of Apatosaurus to be named and described by the American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh (1877).

Everything Dinosaur’s Scale Drawing of Apatosaurus (A. ajax)

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur model fans will recognise the fact that we have based our illustration on the highly popular Papo Young Apatosaurus dinosaur model that was added to the Papo “Dinosaures” range in 2015.  2015 was a special year for fans of diplodocids, as, following a systematic review, the genus Brontosaurus was resurrected.  The Papo model has certainly proved to be a big hit amongst collectors and dinosaur fans.

From the Western United States

The first Apatosaurus fossils to be discovered were found close to the town of Morrison in Colorado (USA).  Subsequently, fossil material assigned to the Apatosaurus genus has been found in Wyoming and Utah.  Apatosaurus was one of the so-called “mega-herbivores” of the Upper Jurassic of western North America.  A number of sauropod fossils are associated with the Upper Jurassic sediments in this region, including Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Barosaurus, Haplocanthosaurus and Camarasaurus.  Several different families of sauropod have been identified and as a result, many palaeontologists regard the Morrison Formation fossil material as the high watermark for Jurassic Sauropoda diversity.

The Papo Young Apatosaurus Dinosaur Model

To view the Papo range of dinosaur and prehisoric animal figures: Papo Dinosaur Models.

How Big was Apatosaurus ajax?

Everything Dinosaur team members estimate that Apatosaurus ajax grew to around 25 metres in length and would have measured between 3 and 4.6 metres high at the hips.  Mass estimates indicate a body weight of around 30 tonnes.  Size estimates do vary, for example acclaimed dinosaur expert and author Gregory S. Paul states that Apatosaurus ajax was around 23 metres long and considerably lighter at approximately 20 tonnes.

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