Look up · dinosaur 912 of 1,425
long-neck giant
Oplosaurus
Say it like this: “OP-loh-SAWR-us”
Oplosaurus armatus
Oplosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United Kingdom.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1852 · Gervais, P.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 25 m · 82 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- the United Kingdom · Wessex
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Sauropoda
The story in short
In 1852, P. Gervais published the name Oplosaurus. The name means “armed or weapon lizard.”
It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the Wessex Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Oplosaurus at a length near 25 m.
On the family tree it sits in Sauropoda, among the sauropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Aepisaurus
Aepisaurus elephantinus
Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago
Amygdalodon
Amygdalodon patagonicus
Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian · Toarcian) · roughly 192.9 to 174.7 million years ago
Archaeodontosaurus
Archaeodontosaurus descouensi
Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) · roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago