Plateosaurus

Plateosaurus is a Triassic pro-sauropod, and inhabited Germany, France, Switzerland, and Greenland territory 214 million years ago. Its name means “flat/broad lizard”. The first vertebrae and toes fossils were found in 1834 in Germany, near Nuremberg. Between 1911 and 1932 a huge find of 35 largely preserved skeletons and almost 70 specimen fragments were recovered. Unfortunately, the exhibition was irretrievably lost in 1944 after a major museum fire.
Plateosaurus was 5 to 10 metres long giant with 600 kg to 2 tonnes weight. The pear shaped body ended up with a huge 40 caudal vertebrae tail, crowned by a small head on a long 10 cervical vertebrae neck. More than 60 teeth packed the mouth. However, most of them were spread through the upper jaw. The dinosaur moved on two hind limbs. Its forelimbs were very powerful, however, twice shorter with prehensile digits. The eye sockets’ lateral position provided excellent 360 degree vision to scan the surroundings. As the reptile was herbivorous, it leaned on the tail and could reach the foliage at up to 5 metres height.