Plateosaurus Coloring Pages

A long neck is its key feature! Plateosaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur friend!

Plateosaurus is a plant-eating dinosaur friend with a long neck and a big body. Out of all the times when many dinosaurs lived, it appeared very early on, making it a super important dinosaur. Scientists think it lived by eating plants.

When did it live?

Plateosaurus lived during the Triassic period, about 210 million to 204 million years ago. This was a little before giant dinosaurs appeared on Earth. Plateosaurus is thought to be one of the very first plant-eating dinosaur groups to grow big.

A super big body!

Plateosaurus had a really big body!

• Its length was about 5 to 10 meters long! That is about as long as a bus.
• Its height was about 2 to 4 meters tall.
• It weighed about 600 kilograms to 4 tons! That is as heavy as an elephant.

With a body this big, it must have eaten a lot of plants.

A long neck and a small head!

Plateosaurus had a very long neck. With this long neck, it could eat plants in all sorts of places, like leaves on high trees and grass growing on the ground. Its head was small compared to its body, and it had a lot of teeth.

What were its toes like?

Plateosaurus had five toes on its feet. Its front thumbs had huge claws. Scientists think it used these claws to grab tree branches or gather plants together.

What did it eat?

Plateosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur that ate many kinds of plants, like grass, tree leaves, and ferns. It used its long neck well to eat lots of plants in the forest.

What about the name of Plateosaurus?

Plateosaurus is written as "Plateosaurus" in English. This name comes from putting two Greek words together: "plateos" and "sauros". "Plateos" means flat or broad, and "sauros" means lizard. Long ago, people might have given it this name because the bones of Plateosaurus looked flat.

Where were its fossils found?

Fossils of Plateosaurus have been found mostly in Europe, in places like Germany and France. In Germany, there is a place where many Plateosaurus bones were found all at once, so it might have lived in herds.

How to Pick Colors: Choose Gentle Colors That Blend into the Forest!

Plateosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur, so gentle colors that blend into forests, woods, and grassy fields look great on it.

• Main Body Colors: Green (dark green, dull green, or olive green), brown (earthy brown or light brown), and gray (gray with a bit of green or brown) are great choices!
• Belly Color: Make the belly a lighter color than the rest of the body (like bright green or cream). This makes it look soft and round!
• Eyes: Plant-eating dinosaurs needed to look around very well. Color the eyes a strong black and leave a little shiny spot. That will make them look full of life!
• Claws: Plateosaurus had strong claws for walking on the ground. Make them gray, brown, or black to show how strong they were!

Let's Show Its Smooth Skin!

Plateosaurus is thought to have had smooth skin, not bumpy skin like a turtle or an alligator. The lines in this picture are drawn smooth, so use them to help you color!

• Using Colored Pencils: Press with the same gentle strength as you layer colors. Color smoothly without leaving uneven spots to make it look just like real skin!
• Using Crayons: Try putting down your colors gently and evenly all over.

How to Color for a 3D Look: Think About Shadows and Light!

When light shines on the big body of Plateosaurus, some parts get bright and other parts get dark shadows. Dark shadow places are:

• Under the neck and under the belly (close to the ground)
• Where the arms and legs join the body, and curved-in spots (like neck folds or lines on its side)
• If you color these places a bit darker than your main color, it makes the body pop out in 3D!
• Places where light hits easily, like the back or the top of the neck, look great with a lighter color or a bright spot left open!

How to Color the Long Neck: Use Color Blending for a 3D Look!

If you give the long neck of Plateosaurus a neat 3D look, your picture will look super cool!

• Imagine light hitting one side of the neck and making a shadow on the other side. For example, if light comes from the right, make the right side light and the left side a bit darker. This makes the neck look round!
• Try blending colors from light to dark. This helps show how round and long the neck really is!

Tips for Enjoying Your Coloring Page!

• Color It Any Way You Like!
  • You do not have to use real colors. Color it any way that makes you think, "It would be so fun if a Plateosaurus looked like this!" A colorful Plateosaurus is super cool, too!
• Add a Background!
  • Draw the forests, grassy fields, or far-away mountains where Plateosaurus lived. Your picture will come to life even more! Drawing fern plants is a great idea, too.