Apatosaurus ajax

The Apatosaurus, part of the sauropod family, had an incredibly long, whip-like tail that not only helped in balancing its enormous body but may have also served as a defensive weapon against large predators like Allosaurus, which shared its habitat. While its neck could stretch up to 30 feet in length, allowing it to reach both low and high vegetation, recent studies suggest that it likely didn’t hold its neck in a fully vertical position as previously thought, but instead at a more horizontal angle, feeding on a variety of plant life that could range from shrubs to small trees. Despite its intimidating size—up to 75 feet in length and weighing 20 tons—the Apatosaurus had relatively small teeth suited for stripping leaves and soft vegetation rather than chewing, which means it probably swallowed large amounts of plant material whole and relied on its gut to process it. Fossils of these massive creatures suggest they lived in herds, possibly as a protective measure against predators, and their migration patterns may have been influenced by the availability of food sources in the ancient environments they inhabited.