Camptosaurus

Lived in what is now known as Europe and North America
As long as 1/2 the length of a semi-trailer
Weighed as much as 2 Grizzly Bears
Its name means “flexible lizard”
Was an herbivore

About Camptosaurus

Camptosaurus is a dinosaur that was first discovered on September 4^th, 1879 by William Harlow Reed. It was discovered in Albany County, Wyoming. Around the same time of this discovery, Othniel Charles Marsh discovered another one and named it Camptosaurus – which means “flexible lizard.” It’s believed this dinosaur lived during the late Jurassic period – about 145 to 156 million years ago.

Here are some interesting facts about Camptosaurus: This dinosaur is approximately 23 feet long, 4 feet high and weighed around 2200 pounds. That would mean it weighed as much as 2 full grown Grizzly Bears combined. Judging from all of the Camptosaurus specimens that have been found, it is believed that they primarily lived in North America and Europe.

As you can probably see from the following Camptosaurus pictures, these dinosaurs were heavy built creatures with strong hindquarters and wide feet that allowed it to hold its body upright. These dinosaurs also had big snouts that had a whole lot of teeth and had a horny beak that was probably useful in tearing through tough vegetable matter.

Herbivores

Judging from what they can tell about these dinosaurs, it appears that they were herbivores and only dined on plants. Some of the plants that might have been in their diet include: club mosses, ginkgo, conifer needles, horsetails and ferns.

Like most herbivores, these dinosaurs probably traveled in large herds for protection from predators. While they don’t have a lot of defensive features individually, if they worked together as a group they could have fended off carnivores a lot better. Especially if they were as fast as paleontologists believe them to be.

Many scientists believe that these dinosaurs could run at a top speed of about 15 miles per hour. They believe that because other iguanodons are also believed to have fast running speeds. If that’s true, then that could have made all the difference in their survival. And if they traveled in herds, then it is quite possible they moved on the ground much in the same way that birds move in the sky.