Fruita, Colorado Riggs and crew found nearly two thirds of an "Apatosaurus excelsus" skeleton (commonly known as a Brontosaurus) on the northeast side of Dinosaur Hill, in Fruita. This is still considered to be one of the finest specimens known. Later, other sauropod bones were also found, which eventually led to the landmark's name. The animals were from the late Jurassic Age (150 million years ago) and within the Morrison Formation. Fossils of the "Fruitadens" (a heterodontosaurid dinosaur), the world's smallest known plant-eating dinosaur, were first found in the Fruita Paleontological Area (within the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area) off Kings View
Apatosaurus of another "Apatosaurus" individual originally described as "Atlantosaurus immanis"; as a consequence, some elements cannot be ascribed to either specimen with confidence. Marsh distinguished the new genus "Apatosaurus" from "Atlantosaurus" on the basis of the number of sacral vertebrae, with "Apatosaurus" possessing three and "Atlantosaurus" four. Two years later, Marsh announced the discovery of a larger and more complete specimen at Como Bluff, Wyoming. He gave this specimen a new name based on the conventions of his age and the relatively sparse fossil record available at that time. It was later recognised that the features he had used to distinguish