Brachiosaurus
| Brachiosaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Bronze cast of a B. altithorax specimen outside the Field Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Superorder: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| Infraorder: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Brachiosaurus Riggs, 1903
|
Brachiosaurus (meaning "Arm lizard") was a herbivorous dinosaur genus that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The name comes from the fact that the Brachiosaurus's front legs were longer than its back legs. Most other dinosaurs had back legs that were longer than their front legs or arms. The Brachiosaurus was about 25 m (82 feet) long and 13 meters (42 feet) tall. It was one of the biggest dinosaurs that we know.
Brachiosaurus is a member of the sauropod group. It fossils were found in North America and Africa. At full stretch, Brachiosaurus could reach heights of up to 16 meters (52 feet). The Brachiosaurus skeleton in the Humboldt Museum in Berlin, Germany (also called Giraffititan) is both the tallest and largest complete sauropod skeleton. This means that it is also the tallest and largest complete dinosaur skeleton.
