Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus altithorax
Its body structure shows one of the many ways sauropods exploited abundant plant resources.
Image: Matt Wedel · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Brachiosaurus altithorax
- Period
- Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)
- Lived
- 154–150 Ma (154 million years ago)
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Habitat
- Forest, Plains
- Length (estimate)
- 22 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 30,000 kg
Description
Brachiosaurus had exceptionally long forelimbs, a high-set body and a long, upward-sloping neck. Its narrow, spoon-shaped teeth were suited to cropping leaves. Its build suggests that it could reach higher vegetation than many other sauropods, although neck movement limited the precise height of its feeding range. Estimates of mass and length vary between reconstructions.
Habitat
Open conifer forests and floodplains of the Late Jurassic.
Fossil sites
Morrison Formation, Colorado
Morrison Formation
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Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Brachiosaurus