Tripod dinosaursAlthough they spent most of their time on all fours, experts think that some sauropods sometimes balanced on their hind legs and tails so that they could extend their reach higher into the treetops.

Lashing outThe tails of sauropods covered a lot of territory at the rear of the animal. Some dinosaurs may have used them as powerful whips with which to lash out at an attacker.

The longest necksThe sauropods had the longest necks of the dinosaur world, which allowed them to feed on leaves higher than other dinosaurs could reach. Mamenchisaurus had the longest neck of any dinosaur known to date.

Digesting without chewingSauropods did not have teeth designed for chewing leaves; instead, they raked or nipped off leaves, pine needles, and even pine cones. Such large masses of tough vegetation would have required a long time to digest, so these dinosaurs needed huge bellies in which to store their food. Some sauropod fossils have been found with gastroliths (stomach stones), which they swallowed to help grind up the food in their stomachs, much like some birds do today.

Distributing the weightLike pillars of a building, the legs of sauropods had to support their massive bodies. Elephants' legs are built to do the same job, and like elephants, sauropods had broad and thickly-padded feet.

It's all in the hipsIn lizard-hipped dinosaurs, one of the two lower pelvic bones pointed forward and one pointed backward, a structure characteristic of modern lizards. In the ornithischian group, the bird-hipped dinosaurs, the two lower pelvic bones pointed backward and down, just like the bone structure found in birds today.