The prosauropod dinosaurs are a group of dinosaurs that lived from the Late Triassic (230 mya*) until the Early Jurassic (190 mya).   During this time, the land masses of the world were joined together into a super-continent called Pangaea. 
 

What's In A Name?

    Most scientific names are composed of root words, usually of Latin or Greek origin, that when combined together provide a word that describes some unique feature. 

     The word "prosauropod" can be broken down as, pro - first,saur - lizard, pod - foot.  The German palaeontologist Frederick von Huene used the word Prosauropoda in 1920 to refer to a group of closely related dinosaurs with long necked dinosaurs and tails.  All prosauropod dinosaurs have a very unique foot with twisted first digit bearing a tremendously large claw. 

   Every member of the animal kingdom is identified with a name composed of two parts, the genus and the species name.  Both names are always italicized, to show they are formal names and because they are often based on latin root words.  The genus name is always capitalized and is written first, followed by the species name.  Each genus can contain multiple species and these animals would be closely related.
 

There are several subgroups (genera) of prosauropod.  Here are two common prosauropod genera:

Thecodontosaurus : (Theco - envelope ; dont - tooth, saur - lizard)

     Thecondontosaurus is a small prosauropod found in Triassic rocks of England.  Thecodontosaurus probably walked bipedally (on two feet - like us).  Unfortunately many of the bones of Thecodontosaurus were destroyed when a bomb was dropped on the Bristol City Museum in 1940.

Plateosaurus : (Plateo - flat; saur - lizard)
 

    As many as 100 different skeletons of the prosauropod called Plateosaurus have been found in Greenland, Germany and France.  The largest of the prosauropods, Plateosaurus sometimes reached over 9 meters in length (check).  The root Plateo (flat) refers to the shape of a pelvic (hip) bone. 
 

You Are What You Eat?

Prosauropods had proportaially small skulls in comparison to their body length, with many leaf shaped teeth bearing fine serations.  The bones of the skull were not joined together very tightly, and were typically very thin and delicate.  These characters, lightly built, delicate skull with finely serrated teeth, suggest prosauropods were most likely herbivores (plant eaters).

Prosauropod dinosaur in the Museum's Exhibit Gallery.	The skull of a Prosauropod dinosaur.

When the prosauropods roamed the earth, from the Late Triassic (230 mya) until the Early Jurassic (190 mya), the land masses of the world were joined together into a super continent called Pangaea. Grass had not yet evolved, but there was plenty of plants such as cycads, ferns and conifer trees, which the prosaurpod dinosaurs likely fed upon.
 

Cycad plant:  Prosauropod Food?	Close up of Cycad fruit.

Prosauropods did not chew their food, their jaws and teeth did not allow lateral (sideways) motion.   Instead, prosauropods had stones in their stomach to grind up the swallowed food.  Scientists occasionally find these stones, called gastroliths, among the bones of prosauropod dinosaurs. 

The inability of prosauropods to chew their food may have been an important factor in why the prosauropods went extinct.   Another group of dinosaurs, the Ornithischians, lived during the same time as the prosauropods and could chew their food.  Ornithischians had flat, molar like teeth, and were able to process food better than the prosauropods giving them an advantage when vegetation was less abundant.

*mya : million years ago