Prosauropods

Sauropodomorphs Temporal range: Late Triassic–Late Cretaceous, 231.4–66 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Mounted skeleton of Plateosaurus engelhardti at Eberhard-Karls-University
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Clade:	Eusaurischia
Suborder:	†Sauropodomorpha Huene, 1932
Subgroups
†Arcusaurus †Asylosaurus †Buriolestes †Efraasia †Nambalia †Pantydraco †Ruehleia †Thecodontosaurus †Guaibasauridae †Plateosauria

Sauropodomorpha (/ˌsɔːrəˌpɒdəˈmɔːrfə/SAW-rə-POD-ə-MOR-fə; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The "prosauropods", which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the mid-Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous (approximately 66 Ma).

Sauropodomorphs were adapted to browsing higher than any other contemporary herbivore, giving them access to high tree foliage. This feeding strategy is supported by many of their defining characteristics, such as: a light, tiny skull on the end of a long neck (with ten or more elongated cervical vertebrae) and a counterbalancing long tail (with one to three extra sacral vertebrae).