Brachiosaurus
Fast facts
- Genus
- Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus (meaning “Arm lizard”) was a herbivorous dinosaur genus that lived in the Upper Jurassic period. The name comes from the fact that the Brachiosaur’s front legs were longer than its back legs. Most other dinosaurs had back legs that were longer than their front legs or arms. Brachiosaurus was about 25 m (82 feet) long and 13-18 meters (42-60 feet) tall. It was one of the biggest dinosaurs.
Brachiosaurus was a sauropod. Its fossils were found in North America and Asia. At full stretch, Brachiosaurus could reach heights of up to 16 meters (52 feet). The Brachiosaurus skeleton in the Humboldt Museum in Berlin, Germany is both the tallest and largest complete sauropod skeleton. This means that it is also the tallest and largest complete dinosaur skeleton.
Diet
Brachiosaurus was a strictly herbivorous dinosaur. Its long neck enabled it to browse foliage at heights that were inaccessible to most other herbivorous dinosaurs. Fossil evidence suggests that it fed primarily on conifers, cycads, and other tall plants. Its peg-like teeth were adapted for stripping leaves rather than chewing, indicating a feeding strategy focused on high-browsing.
Behavior
Brachiosaurus likely exhibited social behavior, potentially moving in loose herds for protection. Its massive size and slow locomotion suggest it relied on height and bulk as defense mechanisms against predators. The structure of its neck and limbs indicates that it could feed efficiently over a wide vertical range without needing to move extensively, reducing energy expenditure while foraging.
Written for younger readers
Brachiosaurus, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: Dinosaurs
Brachiosaurs could reach heights of up to 25 meters (82 feet) long and 13 meters (42 feet) tall, about as tall as 7 and a half humans! They could weigh up to 32 tons. Brachiosaurs walked on four legs, with the front legs being longer than the back legs. Brachiosaurs can be compared to modern day giraffes. Their huge size usually kept them safe from the predators of their time. The largest fossil of it is by some paleontologists called Ultrasauros and the African form is sometimes called Giraffititan.
Brachiosaurs were herbivores that fed off of trees in the conifer forests.
Brachiosaurus lived 150 to 100 million years ago, in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods.
Brachiosaurus lived on land in conifer forests, which they fed off of. Brachiosaurs were once thought to live submerged in the water, but we now know that this is impossible because the pressure of the water would have stopped the animal from breathing.
Elmer Riggs discovered the Brachiosaurus in 1900 in Grand River Vally, Colorado.
- Their skin color
- Whether they were cold or warm blooded
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Brachiosaurus” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
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