Supersaurus

What it was like

Supersaurus was an enormous, long-necked plant eater, among the longest dinosaurs ever found. Length estimates for the genus reach about 35 meters (115 feet), rivaling or exceeding its huge relatives Diplodocus and Barosaurus.

Its neck alone likely made up a large part of its total length, and like other diplodocids, it probably held its head low to browse on ferns and other plants close to the ground, though some researchers think it may have reared up on its back legs at times to reach higher.

Its world

Supersaurus lived from about 155 to 143 million years ago, spanning the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, in what is now Colorado and Wyoming, in the United States. Its fossils come from the Morrison Formation.

It shared its world with the plated Stegosaurus, the predators Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus, and other giant sauropods, including Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, and Apatosaurus.

How it was found

Jensen named Supersaurus in 1985. Around five fossil finds are known, and because sauropod skeletons are rarely found complete, size estimates for Supersaurus come from comparing its huge individual bones with those of better-known relatives such as Diplodocus and Barosaurus, rather than from a single full skeleton.