What was the Bone Wars?

A rivalry between Marsh and Cope to find fossils

In 1903, what did Elmer Riggs conclude?

Brontosaurus was the same as Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus Quiz: The Brontosaurus Mix-Up and More

Othniel Marsh named both Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus in the 1870s, and this Apatosaurus quiz untangles the mix-up that followed. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on the Bone Wars, Elmer Riggs, the wrong skull on museum skeletons, the Morrison Formation, whip-like tails and the 2015 study that brought Brontosaurus back.

Start Apatosaurus Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Name
What does Apatosaurus mean?
Namer
Who named Apatosaurus in 1877?
Rivalry
What was the Bone Wars?
Sunk
In 1903, what did Elmer Riggs conclude?
Skull
What mistake did many museum skeletons have for decades?
Revival
What did a large 2015 study suggest about Brontosaurus?
Age
When did Apatosaurus live?
Rocks
Which rock formation in the western US preserves Apatosaurus?
Length
Roughly how long was Apatosaurus?
Tail
What might Apatosaurus have done with its long, thin tail tip?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What does Apatosaurus mean?
Answer: Deceptive lizard
Brontosaurus means thunder lizard.
Q2: Who named Apatosaurus in 1877?
Answer: Othniel Marsh
Marsh also named Brontosaurus in 1879.
Q3: What was the Bone Wars?
Answer: A rivalry between Marsh and Cope to find fossils
Their competition led to hasty naming.
Q4: In 1903, what did Elmer Riggs conclude?
Answer: Brontosaurus was the same as Apatosaurus
The older name, Apatosaurus, took priority.
Q5: What mistake did many museum skeletons have for decades?
Answer: The wrong skull
A short Camarasaurus-like skull was used until the 1970s.
Q6: What did a large 2015 study suggest about Brontosaurus?
Answer: It is a valid separate genus
Tschopp and colleagues found enough differences.
Q7: When did Apatosaurus live?
Answer: Late Jurassic, about 152 million years ago
It shared its world with Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.
Q8: Which rock formation in the western US preserves Apatosaurus?
Answer: The Morrison Formation
It is rich in Jurassic sauropods.
Q9: Roughly how long was Apatosaurus?
Answer: About 21 to 23 meters
Much of its length was neck and tail.
Q10: What might Apatosaurus have done with its long, thin tail tip?
Answer: Cracked it like a whip
Computer models suggest supersonic tail cracks.

Apatosaurus Quiz – The Brontosaurus Mix-Up

Apatosaurus, the deceptive lizard, was named by Othniel Marsh in 1877 during his Bone Wars rivalry with Edward Cope. In 1879 Marsh named Brontosaurus, the thunder lizard, from another skeleton.

In 1903 Elmer Riggs concluded the two were the same genus, so the older name Apatosaurus took priority, though Brontosaurus stayed popular. Many museum skeletons also carried the wrong skull until the 1970s.

Apatosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic, about 152 million years ago, in the Morrison Formation of the western US and reached about 21 to 23 meters. A 2015 study argued Brontosaurus is a valid separate genus after all.

What This Quiz Teaches

Dinosaur fans will enjoy these questions on a famous sauropod.

What the names mean
Who named them
Why Brontosaurus vanished
How it came back
How Apatosaurus lived

Did You Know?

A 1989 US stamp called it Brontosaurus, sparking complaints.
Apatosaurus had thick, heavy neck bones.
Its footprints show it walked in groups at times.
The Carnegie Museum fixed its skull in 1979.
Sauropods swallowed plants without chewing.