Atlantosaurus

Atlas lizard

• Atlanto- · Greek/Latin · Atlas (the Titan who held up the heavens; also the first cervical vertebra)
• -saurus · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Latin/Greek root "Atlanto-", referring to the Titan Atlas of Greek mythology who bore the weight of the heavens on his shoulders, with the Greek "-saurus" meaning lizard. The allusion to Atlas reflects the enormous size of this sauropod and, by extension, the gigantic vertebrae that supported its immense body. The name was intended to evoke something of titanic, world-bearing proportions. Some authors have also noted a secondary resonance with the Atlantic region, but the primary reference is to the mythological Titan.

Named by

Marsh

Year named

1877

Period

Late Jurassic

Stages

Kimmeridgian – Tithonian

Found in

Morrison Formation, Colorado, USA

Atlantosaurus was one of the first sauropod dinosaurs named from North America, described by O. C. Marsh in 1877 from fragmentary remains in the Morrison Formation. It is now considered a nomen dubium because the material (largely isolated limb bones and vertebrae) is too incomplete and non-diagnostic to confidently assign to a distinct genus or species. It should not be confused with Apatosaurus or Brachiosaurus, which were named from the same formation around the same time. It is a true dinosaur (a sauropod).