apatosaurus
- noun
- /əˌpætəˈsɔrəs/
:
apatosaurio
- Experts believe the neck of the apatosaurus helped it reach food high in the trees.
Examples
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The apatosaurus roamed the plains of North America millions of years ago.
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A museum exhibit displays a full skeleton of an apatosaurus for visitors to admire.
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The apatosaurus was one of the largest dinosaurs.
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Did the apatosaurus eat only plants?
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The apatosaurus was a massive dinosaur known for its long neck and herbivorous diet.
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In the Jurassic period, the apatosaurus grazed on ferns and other vegetation in North America.
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A life-sized model of an apatosaurus can be found at the natural history museum.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A very large plant-eating dinosaur with a long neck that lived in North America
1
8.9
A large plant-eating dinosaur with a very long neck and tail that walks on four legs
A large plant-eating dinosaur with a long neck and tail
A very large plant-eating dinosaur with a small head, long neck and long tail
Compounds
- Specialized
A large dinosaur that eats plants with a very long neck and tail
How Big
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Informal
1
8.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
apatosaurus = saurus (semi-transparent) = apato + saurus
The combining form '-saurus' signals a dinosaur to learners, but the 'apato-' element is obscure, so full meaning is only partly recoverable.
Etymology
Apatosaurus comes from Greek parts apate ('deceit' or 'trick') and saurus ('lizard'), so it means 'deceptive lizard'. A helpful way to remember this is that the apatosaurus was long confused with the famous brontosaurus, so its name hints at that mix-up.