One of the very first dinosaurs — small enough to hold, but built like the giants to come.
Anchisaurus was a member of a very early group of dinosaurs, the prosauropods. These dinosaurs were relatives of the giant plant-eating sauropods. Indeed, many of the sauropod features can be seen in Anchisaurus, such as a long muscular tail, a large, barrel-shaped body, a long neck, and a relatively small head. The five-fingered Anchisaurus and its prosauropod cousins were the first tall dinosaurs able to feed from tall trees, in addition to eating small plants and shrubs.
Anchisaurus had a rather small, lightweight skull. It had coarsely serrated teeth that it used to saw through stems and leaves. Like other members of the prosauropod family, Anchisaurus had a very small head in proportion to the rest of its body.
Anchisaurus is shown here with a few of its larger prosauropod relatives. Prosauropods were among the first big plant-eating dinosaurs. Some experts say that these herbivores grew so big because plant-eaters needed larger digestive systems than the meat-eaters of the same period.
Source: Microsoft Dinosaurs (1993) CD-ROM. Text liberated from original screen art; images & audio restored from disc. Original media is Microsoft/supplier copyright — non-commercial educational preservation. Credits & Acknowledgements