Apatosaurus ajax
读音： ah-PAT-oh-SORE-us AY-jax
Sauropoda · Diplodocidae
A massive, long-necked diplodocid from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States. For a century it absorbed Brontosaurus, and its museum skeletons wore the wrong skull until 1979.
- Giant
- Long necked
- Quadrupedal
- 时代
- 侏罗纪· 钦莫利阶
- 食性
- 植食性
- 体长
- 21–23 m
- 体重
- 16,400–22,400 kg
- 地点
- Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, United States
快速问答
- Apatosaurus ajax有多大？
- Apatosaurus ajax体长约21–23 m。髋部高约3.3–4 m。体重约16.4–22.4 t。 (Wikipedia: Apatosaurus 2026; Paul 2016)
- Apatosaurus ajax生活在什么时候？
- Apatosaurus ajax生活在晚侏罗世，约1.548亿至1.431亿年前。 (Paleobiology Database: Apatosaurus occurrences 2026)
- 在哪里发现过Apatosaurus ajax的化石？
- Apatosaurus ajax的化石发现于Morrison Formation (Colorado)和United States。 (Marsh 1877; Holland 1915)
- Apatosaurus ajax吃什么？
- Apatosaurus ajax是植食性。 (Marsh 1877; Holland 1915)
- Apatosaurus ajax由谁命名，何时命名？
- Apatosaurus ajax由Othniel Charles Marsh于1877年描述。 (Marsh 1877; Tschopp et al. 2015)
- Apatosaurus ajax出现在《侏罗纪公园》里吗？
- 是的。Apatosaurus ajax出现在《侏罗纪世界》 (2015)、《侏罗纪世界2》 (2018)、《侏罗纪世界3》 (2022)和《侏罗纪世界：重生》 (2025)中。电影有不少虚构成分；本页将其与化石证据进行了对比。 (Wikipedia: Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park 2026; Myhrvold & Currie 1997)
本页内容
ah-PAT-oh-SORE-us AY-jax
- 时代
- 侏罗纪154.8–143.1 Ma
- 食性
- 植食性
- 体长
- 21–23 m
- 体重
- 16.4–22.4 t
- 产地
- United States
- 分类
- Sauropoda · Diplodocidae
- 命名
- 1877, Othniel Charles Marsh
概览
此内容目前仅提供英文版。
Apatosaurus ajax lived in western North America in the Late Jurassic. Othniel Charles Marsh named it in 1877 from a partial skeleton (YPM 1860) collected at Morrison, Colorado. In 1903 Elmer Riggs merged Brontosaurus into it, and Apatosaurus stayed the scientific name for both until 2015.
It was a very heavy sauropod with a long, deep neck and a whip-like tail. The best skeleton belongs to a second species, A. louisae (CM 3018), found at the Carnegie Quarry in Utah; a Diplodocus-like skull found nearby (CM 11162) was long rejected, and museums mounted Camarasaurus-like heads until the 1970s, when Berman and McIntosh showed the long, low skull was correct.
Bone histology suggests it grew quickly: Curry (1999) estimated that it reached near-adult size in about ten years, while later studies proposed closer to twenty.
名称含义
"Deceptive lizard", from Greek apatē ("deception") and sauros ("lizard"), for chevron bones Marsh thought resembled those of mosasaurs; ajax after the Greek hero (Marsh 1877).
生物学与证据
科学家对这种动物生活方式的看法，以及每种观点的证据有多充分。
生长
Apatosaurus reached near-adult size in about ten years.
证据等级：假说Bone tissue shows fast growth, but estimates differ: about 10 years in one study, closer to 20 in later ones.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
组织学 · Apatosaurus bone histology
Growth-series histology of Apatosaurus limb bones and scapulae used to estimate growth rate.
生物力学
Apatosaurus could crack its tail like a whip at supersonic speed.
证据等级：有争议The 1997 supersonic model was built on an Apatosaurus tail. A 2022 model including soft tissue found the tip reached only about 30 m/s.
支持 / 反对证据 · 2
支持证据
生物力学模型 · Supersonic diplodocid tail model
A computer model of the Apatosaurus louisae tail reaching supersonic speed at the tip, like a bullwhip.
反对证据
生物力学模型 · Diplodocid tail multibody model
A multibody model with soft-tissue strength limits: the tail tip reaches about 30 m/s, far below the speed of sound.
其他
Apatosaurus had a long, low skull like Diplodocus, not a short, boxy one like Camarasaurus.
证据等级：有力证据A diplodocid skull was found beside the best Apatosaurus skeleton. For decades museums used Camarasaurus-like heads instead, until the skull was restudied in the 1970s.
体型
- 体长
- 21–23 m
- 身高
- 3.6 m文献范围 3.3–4 m
- 体重
- 16,400–22,400 kg
（75.5 英尺）
（11.8 英尺）
依据 YPM 1860 and referred apatosaurine hindlimbs
时间线
时代： 钦莫利阶 (154.8–149.2 Ma), 提塘阶 (149.2–145 Ma), 晚侏罗世 (161.5–145 Ma)
Kimmeridgian-Tithonian bounds of the type collection in PBDB (Brushy Basin Member, Morrison Formation).
产地
地层
- Morrison Formation · Colorado
- Morrison, Colorado (Dinosaur Ridge) · Morrison Formation · Colorado · 位置为近似值
- Carnegie Quarry, Dinosaur National Monument, Utah · Morrison Formation · Utah · 位置为近似值
这些是发现化石的地点，而不是该动物生活的全部范围。
生态系统
生活于： Morrison
156–147 百万年前 · 泛滥平原, 河流水系, 疏林, 湖泊
A vast, seasonally dry floodplain crossed by rivers in the western interior of North America in the Late Jurassic, with a wet and a dry season, conifer and fern vegetation along the water and giant sauropods in abundance.
分类
- 演化支Dinosauria
- 演化支Saurischia
- 演化支Sauropodomorpha
- 演化支Sauropoda
- 总科Diplodocoidea
- 科Diplodocidae
- 亚科Apatosaurinae
- 属Apatosaurus
- 种Apatosaurus ajax
分类地位： 有效
化石记录
| 编号 | 类型 | 收藏机构 | 发现年份 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YPM 1860 | 正模标本 | Yale Peabody Museum (YPM) | 1877 |
| CM 3018 | 正模标本 | Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM) | 1909 |
| CM 11162 | 归入标本 | Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM) | — |
已发现的部分
归入标本: CM 11162
- 保存
- 部分保存
- 复原
- 未知 / 未记录
按部位查看（表格）
| 部位 | 状态 |
|---|---|
| Skull | 保存 |
| Mandible | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Teeth | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Cervical vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Dorsal vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Sacrum | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Caudal vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Ribs | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Gastralia | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Scapula / shoulder girdle | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Humerus | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Forearm (radius / ulna) | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Hand (manus) | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Pelvis | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Femur | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Tibia / fibula | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Foot (pes) | 未知 / 未记录 |
发现
- 命名年份
- 1877
- 命名者
- Othniel Charles Marsh
- 模式标本
- YPM 1860
发现时间线
1877 · 正式命名
Marsh names Apatosaurus ajax
Marsh names the "deceptive lizard" from a skeleton collected at Morrison, Colorado.
人物：Othniel Charles Marsh, Arthur Lakes
1909 · 标本出土
Carnegie Quarry yields the best Apatosaurus skeleton
Earl Douglass's excavation in Utah recovers CM 3018 and, nearby, the skull CM 11162.
人物：Earl Douglass
1915 · 正式命名
Holland names Apatosaurus louisae
Named after Louise Carnegie.
人物：William J. Holland
《侏罗纪公园》与《侏罗纪世界》中的形象
电影
- 侏罗纪世界 (2015)
- 侏罗纪世界2 (2018)
- 侏罗纪世界3 (2022)
- 侏罗纪世界：重生 (2025)
此内容目前仅提供英文版。
银幕形象
Gentle long-necked herds in Jurassic World, where one is killed by the Indominus rex.
电影与化石对比
- Diplodocid tails may have worked as whips, but the idea that their tips broke the sound barrier is disputed.
电影名称仅用于识别。DinoDex 与《侏罗纪公园》/《侏罗纪世界》系列无任何关联，也未获其认可。 所有在电影中出现的恐龙
参考文献
- (2026). Paleobiology Database: Apatosaurus occurrences. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?base_name=Apatosaurus&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates（在新标签页中打开）
- (2026). Wikipedia: Apatosaurus. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatosaurus（在新标签页中打开）
- (2026). Wikipedia: Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaurs_in_Jurassic_Park（在新标签页中打开）
- (2026). Wikipedia: Jurassic World Rebirth. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_World_Rebirth（在新标签页中打开）
- Conti, S., Tschopp, E., Mateus, O., Zanoni, A., Masarati, P. & Sala, G. (2022). Multibody analysis and soft tissue strength refute supersonic dinosaur tail. Scientific Reports 12. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-21633-2（在新标签页中打开）
- Curry, K. A. (1999). Ontogenetic histology of Apatosaurus (Dinosauria: Sauropoda): new insights on growth rates and longevity. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19: 654-665. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011179（在新标签页中打开）
- Holland, W. J. (1915). A new species of Apatosaurus. Annals of Carnegie Museum 10(1-2): 143-145.
- Marsh, O. C. (1877). Notice of new dinosaurian reptiles from the Jurassic formation. American Journal of Science (series 3) 14: 514-516.
- Myhrvold, N. P. & Currie, P. J. (1997). Supersonic sauropods? Tail dynamics in the diplodocids. Paleobiology 23: 393-409. doi:10.1017/s0094837300019801（在新标签页中打开）
- Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
- Tschopp, E., Mateus, O. & Benson, R. B. J. (2015). A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda). PeerJ 3: e857. doi:10.7717/peerj.857（在新标签页中打开）