Dinosaurs · Prosauropod

Plateosaurus

Say it plat-ee-oh-sore-us. The name means ‘flat lizard’.

Plateosaurus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of prosauropods

Length: 7 m
Weight: 4 tonnes
Diet: Plant-eaterplant material
Walked: On 2 or 4 legs
When: Late Triassicabout 210 million years ago
Fossils found in: France, Germany, Switzerland
Named by: Meyer (1837)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Sauropodomorpha › Prosauropoda › Plateosauria › Plateosauridae

Where Plateosaurus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Prosauropods. Early long-necked plant-eaters, relatives of the sauropods. See all 16

Lived at the same time

Other prosauropods

Massospondylus Early Jurassic
Jingshanosaurus Early Jurassic
Yunnanosaurus Early Jurassic
Aardonyx Early Jurassic
Lufengosaurus Early Jurassic
Coloradisaurus Late Triassic
Guaibasaurus Late Triassic
Mussaurus Late Triassic

Source: Plateosaurus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.