Daily Dose of Prehistory: Back From Extinction 123

Brontosaurus excelsus, meaning "Thunder Lizard", was a species of massive sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, approximately 156.3 to 146.8 million years ago. Associated with the closely related Apatosaurus since the 1870s, it was only in the past 4 years that the two were differentiated as two separate genuses. It was large in size and stature; measuring up to 72 feet long, weighing 15 tons, and standing at least 15 feet tall. Like other diplodocids, Brontosaurus had a thin, tapering tail that could be cracked like a whip, making a sound of over 200 decibels (which is about as loud as a cannon firing). In terms of recognition, Brontosaurus is among Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus as some of the most recognizable dinosaurs, appearing in films such as Gertie the Dinosaur all the way back in 1914.