Plateosaurus

Plateosaurus was a genus of prosauropod reptiles that lived during the Late Triassic Period. The type species of this genus is P. engelhardti. Specimens have been found in the south of Germany, as well as in France and Switzerland.

Plateosaurus was one of the first of the large dinosaurs. A harmless plant-eater with numerous small, pointy teeth, all of uniform size and shape. Plateosaurus had stout limbs that supported the considerable weight of the animal as it walked on all four legs. As with other prosauropods, Plateosaurus's hind legs were stronger than the front ones and were able to take the weight of the creature when it reared up, either to reach higher branches for food, or possibly to defend itself against attack-a particularly large claw on each thumb would have been an effective weapon in such a circumstance. Its long tail would have acted as a counterbalance to the long, thick neck.

In Jurassic Park inspired games

 * Plateosaurus is one of the hebrivores that can be created from paleo-DNA in the game Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.

Links

 * Plateosaurus on My Jurassic Park
 * Plateosaurus on Wikipedia