**Atlantosaurus: A Giant Dinosaur from the Past**
Atlantosaurus is a name that means “Atlas lizard”. This dinosaur lived during the Late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago.
This dinosaur is a type of sauropod, which means it was a long-necked dinosaur. The most well-known species of Atlantosaurus is called Atlantosaurus montanus. It was discovered in the Morrison Formation of Colorado, United States.
**Discovery and Naming**
The first bones of Atlantosaurus were found by a paleontologist named Arthur Lakes. He discovered them in a place called Lakes Quarry Number 1. Othniel Charles Marsh, who worked at Yale University, named the dinosaur in July 1877. At first, he called it Titanosaurus montanus, but later he changed it to Atlantosaurus montanus because the name Titanosaurus was already used for another dinosaur found in India.
Marsh believed that Atlantosaurus could grow up to 24 meters long, which is about 79 feet. This estimate was based on how he thought its body was built, similar to that of a crocodile.
**The Bones Found**
When the bones were discovered, they were very large and showed features like air-filled pockets, which are common in many sauropods. However, scientists later found this made it hard to tell if Atlantosaurus was really a separate species from other dinosaurs. Because of this, some experts think the name Atlantosaurus may refer to bones of another dinosaur called Apatosaurus, making it a “dubious” name.
In 1878, Marsh found another species and named it Atlantosaurus immanis, which means “the immense one”. This dinosaur was thought to be even larger, estimated to be about 35 meters long.
**Conclusion**
Even though Atlantosaurus might not be well understood today, it remains an exciting part of dinosaur history. It shows how scientists discovered and named dinosaurs during a time called the Bone Wars, a period full of competition among paleontologists to find and identify new dinosaur species.
So, though we may have questions about Atlantosaurus, it still stands as a giant reminder of the incredible creatures that once roamed the Earth.