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Concept
Sauropodomorpha
Summary
Sauropodomorpha (ˌsɔːrəˌpɒdəˈmɔːrfə ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The prosauropods, which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.
Sauropodomorphs were adapted to browsing higher than any other contemporary herbivore, giving them access to high tree foliage. This feeding strategy is supported by many of their defining characteristics, such as: a light, tiny skull on the end of a long neck (with ten or more elongated cervical vertebrae) and a counterbalancing long tail (with one to three extra sacral vertebrae).
Their teeth were weak, and shaped like leaves or spoons (lanceolate or spatulate). Instead of grinding teeth, they had stomach stones (gastroliths), similar to the gizzard stones of montul birds and crocodiles, to help digest tough plant fibers. The front of the upper mouth bends down in what may be a beak.
One of the earliest known sauropodomorphs, Saturnalia, was small and slender (1.5 metres, or 5 feet long); but, by the end of the Triassic, they were the largest dinosaurs of their time, and throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous they kept on growing. Ultimately the largest sauropods, like Supersaurus, Diplodocus hallorum, Patagotitan, and Argentinosaurus, reached in length, and 60,000–100,000 kilograms (65–110 US short tons) or more in mass.
Initially bipedal, as their size increased they evolved a four-legged graviportal gait adapted only to walking slowly on land, like elephants. The early sauropodomorphs were most likely omnivores as their shared common ancestor with the other saurischian lineage (the theropods) was a carnivore.
Official source
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