Description | Brachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154–153 million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Colorado River valley in western Colorado, United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax; the generic name is Greek for "arm lizard", in reference to its proportionately long arms, and the specific name means "deep chest". Brachiosaurus is estimated to have been between 18 and 21 meters (59 and 69 ft) long; weight estimates range from 28.3 to 58 metric tons (31.2 and 64 short tons). It had a disproportionately long neck, small skull, and large overall size, all of which are typical for sauropods. Atypically, Brachiosaurus had longer forelimbs than hindlimbs, which resulted in a steeply inclined trunk, and a proportionally shorter tail.
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Source Data | |
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Rank | genus |
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Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Dinosauria : Brachiosauridae : Brachiosaurus |
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Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Saurischia : Brachiosauridae : Brachiosaurus |
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Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
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Classification (PBDB,GBIF) | |
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Scientific Name | Brachiosaurus Riggs, 1903 |
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Name Published In | Amer. J. Sci., (4) 15 |
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Opinions (PBDB) | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
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Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Riggs, 1904 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Cetiosauridae | stated without evidence | Huene, 1908 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropoda | stated without evidence | Janensch, 1914 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Lull, 1919 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropoda | stated without evidence | Joleaud, 1922 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Cetiosauridae | stated with evidence | Lull, 1924 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosaurinae | stated without evidence | Huene, 1927 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Nopcsa, 1928 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosaurinae | stated with evidence | Huene, 1929 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Lapparent, 1943 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosaurinae | implied | Romer, 1956 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Sauropoda | stated without evidence | Huene, 1958 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Lapparent, 1960 | Brachiosaurus | genus | subjective synonym of Astrodon | stated without evidence | Kingham, 1962 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Tatarinov, 1964 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | implied | Romer, 1966 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosaurinae | stated without evidence | Steel, 1970 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachyosauridae | stated without evidence | Langston, 1974 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosaurinae | stated without evidence | Coombs and Molnar, 1981 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Russell, 1984 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Bonaparte, 1986 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Bonaparte, 1986 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosaurinae | stated without evidence | Sanz, 1986 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | McIntosh, 1990 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Miller et al., 1991 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Salgado, 1993 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Salgado and Calvo, 1993 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Upchurch, 1995 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Upchurch, 1995 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated without evidence | Salgado et al., 1997 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Sereno, 1998 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Wilson and Sereno, 1998 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Camarasauridae | stated without evidence | Dong, 1998 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Bonaparte, 1999 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated without evidence | Smith et al., 2001 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Thulborn, 2002 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated with evidence | Wilson, 2002 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Upchurch et al., 2004 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated without evidence | ApesteguĂa, 2005 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Royo-Torres et al., 2006 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Chure et al., 2006 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated with evidence | Allain and Aquesbi, 2008 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Taylor, 2009 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | You and Li, 2009 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Ksepka and Norell, 2010 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Taquet, 2010 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated with evidence | Suteethorn et al., 2010 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated without evidence | Filippi et al., 2011 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | D'Emic, 2012 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Titanosauriformes | stated without evidence | Xing et al., 2015 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | D'Emic et al., 2016 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated without evidence | Salisbury et al., 2016 | Brachiosaurus | genus | belongs to Brachiosauridae | stated with evidence | Mannion et al., 2017 |
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Status (PBDB) | extinct |
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Taxon Size (PBDB) | 3 |
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First Recorded Appearance | 161 - 152 Ma Jurassic |
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Last Recorded Appearance | 151 - 145 Ma Late Jurassic |
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Environment | terrestrial (based on Sauropoda) |
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Motility | actively mobile (based on Sauropoda) |
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Diet | herbivore (based on Sauropoda) |
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Reproduction | oviparous, dispersal=direct/internal,mobile (based on Sauropoda) |
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Ontogeny | accretion,modification of parts (based on Sauropoda) |
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Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite,compact or dense,thick (based on Sauropoda) |
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Primary Reference (PBDB) | E. S. Riggs. 1903. Brachiosaurus altithorax, the largest known dinosaur. American Journal of Science, series 4 15:299-306 |
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Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiosaurus |
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