Sauropoda

Sauropoda (/sɔːˈrɒpədə/ or /ˌsɔːrəˈpoʊdə/[2]), or the sauropods (/ˈsɔːrəpɒdz/;[3][4] sauro- + -pod, "lizard-footed"), are a clade of saurischian ("lizard-hipped") dinosaurs. They had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Mamenchisaurus.[5][6]

Sauropods first appeared in the late Triassic Period,[7] where they somewhat resembled the closely related (and possibly ancestral) group "Prosauropoda". By the Late Jurassic (150 million years ago), sauropods had become widespread (especially the diplodocids and brachiosaurids). By the Late Cretaceous, those groups had mainly been replaced by the titanosaurs, which had a near-global distribution. However, as with all other non-avian dinosaurs alive at the time, the titanosaurs died out in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Fossilised remains of sauropods have been found on every continent, including Antarctica.[8][9][10][11]

The name Sauropoda was coined by O.C. Marsh in 1878, and is derived from Greek, meaning "lizard foot".[12] Sauropods are one of the most recognizable groups of dinosaurs, and have become a fixture in popular culture due to their impressive size.

Complete sauropod fossil finds are rare. Many species, especially the largest, are known only from isolated and disarticulated bones. Many near-complete specimens lack heads, tail tips and limbs.