ABOUT CAMPTOSAURUS. Camptosaurus, meaning “bent lizard”, was a plant-eating Ornithopod dinosaur of the Late Jurassic Period (145-155 million years ago). Specimens been discovered in the western US and western Europe.
Camptosaurus probably lived in herds in thick, forested areas near river systems. Herding offered protection from predators like Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus. Numerous Camptosaurus specimens have been discovered at our digsite.
Camptosaurus is a valuable species in the context of evolutionary history as it's an early representative of the group of dinosaurs that experienced a large expansion in the Cretaceous period with the Iguanodontiden and the Hadrosaurs.
Mid-sized herbivore. Adult Camptosaurus grew up to 23 feet in length and weighed about 2,000 pounds.
Camptosaurus femur (left) and Camptosaurus humerus (below)
Grinding teeth. Camptosaurus had a long neck that supported a fairly small head. The long snout had a horned beaklike structure, which allowed the Jurassic dinosaur to nip at tough vegetation.
The hundreds of grinding teeth in the back of the mouth then enabled Camptosaurus to chew its food instead of stripping it from branches and swallowing it whole – like the larger Sauropods.
ABOUT CAMPTOSAURUS. Camptosaurus, meaning “bent lizard”, was a plant-eating Ornithopod dinosaur of the Late Jurassic Period (145-155 million years ago). Specimens been discovered in the western US and western Europe.
