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Sauropoda

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

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Sauropod

Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Sauropodomorpha Infraorder: Sauropoda
Families
Anchisauridae Brachiosauridae Camarasauridae Cetiosauridae Diplodocidae Dicraeosauridae Euhelopodidae Nemegtosauridae Omeisauridae Rebbachisauridae Titanosauridae Vulcanodontidae

The name Sauropod means reptile-footed. The Sauropods walked on four legs (quadrupedal) and were plant eaters (herbivores) or omnivorous. They are further characterized by having very long necks and tails. In comparison, their bodies were short, and their heads were small. They crept, but sometimes they could walk on their strong hind legs. Their hind legs were shorter than front legs, so the body slants to the back side. Another unusual feature is that, in some of the later sauropods was rudimentary body armor. Their most similar characteristic is their size. Most Sauropods were very big. Even the smallest Sauropods were over four meters. Brachiosaurus might weigh in at 125 to 170 tonnes.

Side-by-side comparison of the Apatosaurus and the Camarasaurus heads.

Scientist believed they were semi-aquatic swamp wallowers, but lately, the analysis between terrestrial and semi-aquatic animals shows that they were terrestrial animals. Scientists guess that they ate leaves on high trees using their long necks. Their digestion systems were not good, so they ate stones together to digest food.

Sauropods were widespread and one of the most long-lived dinosaurs.

Behemoth

Main Article:Behemoth

There is a graphic description of an animal in the Bible called Behemoth, which is believed by some to be a Sauropod. It is described as an immense land animal with a tail like a cedar.

Behemoth - Job 40:15-19 Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.

Depicts a herd of sauropod dinosaurs, Seismosaurus hallorum (now called Diplodocus), migrating to new feeding areas during the seasonally dry environment of western North America's late Jurassic Period. Known from a huge, forty-percent-complete skeleton, Seismosaurus was discovered in the Brushy Basin Member of New Mexico's Morrison Formation. Associated with the skeleton were Gastroliths, or "stomach stones," that may have aided digestion. Credit: "The Long March" © 1994 Mark Hallett