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long-neck giant
Astrodon
Say it like this: “ahs-tro-don”
Astrodon johnstoni
Astrodon ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian) · roughly 121.4 to 100.5 million years ago
- Named in
- 1865 · Leidy, J.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 20 m · 66 ft
- Weight
- 20 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Arundel
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Macronaria
The story in short
The genus Astrodon dates to 1865, the year J. Leidy described it.
Fossils referred to Astrodon date to the Early Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian), roughly 121.4 to 100.5 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Arundel Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Astrodon at a length near 20 m and a body mass around 20 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Macronaria, among the sauropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Abrosaurus
Abrosaurus dongpoi
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
Aragosaurus
Aragosaurus ischiaticus
Late Jurassic · Early Cretaceous (Tithonian · Berriasian) · roughly 149.2 to 137.1 million years ago
Bicharracosaurus
Bicharracosaurus dionidei
Late Jurassic (Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian) · roughly 161.5 to 149.2 million years ago