Diplodocus now common scientific opinion that "Seismosaurus hallorum" is a species of "Diplodocus". This genus of dinosaurs lived in what is now mid-western North America at the end of the Jurassic period. "Diplodocus" is one of the more common dinosaur fossils found in the middle to upper Morrison Formation, between about 154 and 152 million years ago, during the late Kimmeridgian age. The Morrison Formation records an environment and time dominated by gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, such as "Apatosaurus", "Barosaurus", "Brachiosaurus", "Brontosaurus", and "Camarasaurus". "Diplodocus" is among the most easily identifiable dinosaurs, with its typical sauropod shape, long neck and tail, and
Apatosaurus names; he grouped "Apatosaurus" within Opisthocoelia. Sauropoda is still used as the group name. In 2011, John Whitlock published a study that placed "Apatosaurus" a more basal diplodocid, sometimes less basal than "Supersaurus". Cladogram of the Diplodocidae after Tschopp, Mateus, and Benson (2015). It was believed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries that sauropods like "Apatosaurus" were too massive to support their own weight on dry land. It was theorized that they lived partly submerged in water, perhaps in swamps. More recent findings do not support this; sauropods are now thought to have been fully terrestrial animals. A study