Saurischian dinosaurs

Prosauropods

This name means 'before sauropods' and prosauropods comprise the infraorder Prosauropoda, a group of Late Triassic and Early Jurassic dinosaurs found widely all over the world. These dinosaurs included a number of families - the anchisaurids, blikanasaurids, herrarasaurids, plateosaurids, melanorosaurids, and yunnanosaurids. They ranged between 8-40ft in size and probably walked on all fours. Some species were herbivores, although a few also ate meat.

Plateosaurus or 'flat lizard' gets its name from its flat-shaped teeth. It was a 26ft long plateosaurid dinosaur of the Late Triassic period that probably walked on all fours and reared on its hind legs to feed. Plateosaurus was an herbivore with a long neck and tail, and dozens of its skeletons have been found in Germany, France and Switzerland.

Melanorosaurus means 'black mountain lizard'. The largest early dinosaur, this prosauropod was excavated in South Africa early in the twentieth century. It lived in the Late Triassic period and was an herbivore. Melanorosaurus had a small head, long neck, bulky body, elephant-like legs, and a long tail.