Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus, sometimes referred to as Brontosaurus, was a type of sauropod dinosaur on prehistoric Earth. In plain English, the creature could also be referred to as an Apatosaur.
Biology[[edit] | [edit source]]
They were big, bulky, vegetarians with incredibly long necks. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs) They were 20 metres long and, not counting the neck, four and a half metres high. Apatosaurus lived mostly on weeds and plants found in and around lakes; being submerged in water for most of its daily life helped the Apatosaurus deal with its own enormous weight. Despite "looking a bit dim", Apatosaurus was actually a fairly clever animal, with the Fourth Doctor opining that it might have made a good pet if not for its size; according to the Doctor, an Apatosaurus had two brains, one in its skull and one at the end of its spinal cords, at the top of the tail. (PROSE: The Doctor Who Dinosaur Book)
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
A few Apatosaurs were briefly transported to 1970s-era London by Operation Golden Age. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs) This was mentioned by the Fourth Doctor following his regeneration. (TV: Robot)
The Fourth Doctor later travelled back in time to the Age of the Dinosaurs to show a human the time in Earth's life when it had been populated by "monsters" as fearsome as any found on alien planets. After the Doctor fed a friendly Apatosaurus some lake-weed, however, the time-travellers witnessed it being attacked by an Allosaurus which pounced onto the Apatosaurus and bit at its neck while ripping its prey's flesh with its claws. (PROSE: The Doctor Who Dinosaur Book)
The Apatosaurus were also native to the planet Raxas, a planet which was invaded by the Daleks. Unlike most of the other dinosaur species on Raxas, they were rather non-violent. (PROSE: The Battle for Raxas)
