Fun Brachiosaurus Facts For Kids

The Brachiosaurus altithorax and its other species are sauropods that lived in the Late Jurassic period 154 million years ago. The name Brachiosaurus meaning is 'arm lizard' in Greek and the species name altithorax means 'deep chest' and was named by Elmer Riggs.

The sauropod was a large dinosaur that weighed over 50 tons (50,000 kg). Its skeleton fossils were found in the Morrison Formation, Colorado, North America.

Its hind legs were short and stocky, while the front legs were longer. It has a long S-shaped neck and a short tail.

The Brachiosaurus altithorax lived in the Late Jurassic period with other herbivorous animals and formed communal herds. Detailed information is available about the dinosaur because of the high number of fossils discovered by paleontologists.

If you like reading about Brachiosaurus, read interesting facts about Chungkingosaurus and Heterodontosaurus.

Brachiosaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Brachiosaurus'?

Brachiosaurus pronunciation is 'brak-ee-oh-sore-us'. It was named by Elmer. S. Riggs in 1903.

What type of dinosaur was a Brachiosaurus?

Brachiosaurus was a terrestrial sauropod dinosaur.

In which geological period did the Brachiosaurus roam the Earth?

Brachiosaurus altithorax lived on earth during the Late Jurassic period approximately 154 million years ago. The Late Jurassic period is also known as the Upper Jurassic period.

When did the Brachiosaurus become extinct?

Brachiosaurus became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago. The Brachiosaurus death and mass extinction of dinosaurs, along with other living beings of the time, was named Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event.

Where did a Brachiosaurus live?

Brachiosaurus lived in North America. The Brachiosaurus skeleton fossil specimens were discovered in the Colorado River valley in western Colorado, United States.

What was a Brachiosaurus' habitat?

The Brachiosaurus was a terrestrial dinosaur that lived in semiarid zones with distinct dry and wet seasons. While they were terrestrial, they often stood in lakes, rivers, or ponds to cool off and relax in the warm climate. They could also live in flat floodplains.

Who did a Brachiosaurus live with?

Brachiosaurus is a herding dinosaur that would feed and travel with conspecific dinosaurs. Paleontologists think that they lived in dinosaur groups in their territory and sometimes small herbivores lived in the herds with larger herbivorous dinosaurs like the dinosaur Brachiosaurus.

How long did a Brachiosaurus live?

The Brachiosaurus dinosaur was estimated to have a lifespan of 100 years. These dinosaurs reached sexual maturity before their maximum size, as proved by the bone structures of discovered specimens.

How did they reproduce?

Brachiosaurus laid eggs like dinosaurs. The animal had a particular breeding season and was oviparous. They laid eggs after internal fertilization and incubated them for a particular incubation period, after which the young hatchlings break out of the eggs. Both males and females help to rear the young.

Brachiosaurus Fun Facts

What did a Brachiosaurus look like?

The Brachiosaurus altithorax were large sauropods with long necks, thick torsos, and short-length tails. Their front limbs were longer than the hind legs which was a distinctive trait compared with other dinosaurs.

While it was first believed that it could live in water due to its high nostrils, later it was proven using a bone structure that it was a terrestrial animal. The body structure and tons of bodyweight of the arm lizard didn't allow them to rear onto their hind legs like other sauropods.

The foot had five fingers. The head was small and the neck was S-shaped.

How many bones did a Brachiosaurus have?

The exact number of bones in a Brachiosaurus altithorax skeleton is not known. Some of the bones which have been found from near-complete fossils are 28 vertebrae, chevrons, ribs, shoulder blades, multiple humeri, forearm bones, partial left pelvis, lower hind legs, and partial right ankle. The length of the humerus was more than 6 ft (1.8 m)

How did they communicate?

Like other dinosaurs, it can be assumed that Brachiosaurus dinosaur communicated using its body and vocalization. Dinosaurs can create distinct open-mouthed sounds and closed-mouthed sounds.

The close-mouthed sounds of a lower frequency could travel long distances, which helped them communicate with the rest of the herd or warn rivals of their territory, while the open-mouthed sounds were similar to roars and could be used in many situations.

How big was a Brachiosaurus?

The Brachiosaurus was considered one of the largest dinosaurs known to humans for decades. The Brachiosaurus size was 59-85 ft (18-26 m) long and the Brachiosaurus height was 39 ft (12 m) tall.

How fast could a Brachiosaurus move?

Due to its large size, the Brachiosaurus was very slow. Its fastest speed is 7.5 mph (12 kph). A human could have easily outrun it.

How much did a Brachiosaurus weigh?

Brachiosaurus weight is 28.3-58 metric tons (28,300-58,000 kg). Initially, scientists and paleontologists believed that Brachiosaurus dinosaurs would not be able to support their entire weight on land and thus the dinosaurs were probably semiaquatic. It was later proved that the dinosaurs were purely terrestrial.

What were the male and female names of the species?

Brachiosaurus dinosaurs don't have any specific names to differentiate between males and females. There is currently no proof of the species exhibiting sexual dimorphism either, which can be used to visually distinguish between the sexes. The females might have been smaller than the males.

What would you call a baby Brachiosaurus?

The baby of a Brachiosaurus does not have any particular name. The dinosaur young are generally referred to as juveniles or babies. Depending on age, the dinosaurs were classified and known as juvenile, sub-adult, and adult.

What did they eat?

The Brachiosaurus dinosaur diet was herbivorous, they ate vegetation at high levels due to their height. The most commonly ate ginkgo trees, conifer trees, trees, ferns, and cycads.

Their daily intake of plant matter was estimated to be 440-880 lb (200-400 kg). Chewing involved simple up and down jaw motion, like humans.

Unlike older sauropods, they didn't have spoon-shaped teeth and instead had conical teeth which aided their feeding. Also unlike sauropods, they could not rear on their hind legs to reach for higher vegetation as their body structure and balance weren't conducive to the practice.

How aggressive were they?

Brachiosaurus was not aggressive. They were slow-moving, peaceful, herding dinosaurs. Their protective and defensive instincts trumped any aggressive ones. They did not compete with other herbivores due to niche feeding.

Since the animals only fed on the higher levels of vegetation the smaller herbivores were not threatened. It fed on branches that were 30 ft (9 m) off the ground. Another reason for them to be considered peaceful dinosaurs is because they formed communal herds among conspecifics and dinosaurs of other species.

Did you know...

Brachiosaurus facts mention that regardless of its long neck and longer than average front limbs are not related to the giraffe. When Giraffatitan vs Brachiosaurus is compared, the build of Giraffatitan, strongly resembled a giraffe.

Many of its physical characteristics and behavioral traits were giraffe-like. It was believed to be the largest terrestrial animal in history and was several tons heavier than the Brachiosaurus.

Gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, like Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Barosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Camarasaurus were found in the Morrison Formation. Most fossils of this group were discovered in the 19th century.

If Diplodocus vs Brachiosaurus is compared, they have many similarities in size, habitat, and behavior. Brachiosaurus vs Diplodocus differences includes that the latter was slimmer and had a longer tail.

Its front and hind limbs were approximately the same length and kept its long neck horizontal instead of a vertical S-shape like Brachiosaurus. Diplodocus skull has not been found yet.

Apatosaurus was a similar sauropod dinosaur that had a thicker neck, larger head, and thin, flexible whip-like tail. It was also herbivorous but wasn't as large as a Brachiosaurus. The Apatosaurus skull which was found did not belong to this genus and instead was a Brachiosaurus skull.

Brachiosaurus gained immense popularity after it was featured in the 'Jurassic Park' movie and subsequently its series and video game.

A fossil similar to Brachiosaurus was found in Africa, but paleontologists and scientists believe that it was a different dinosaur.

Can a Brachiosaurus swim?

No, Brachiosaurus was too heavy to swim. It instead walked on the lake and river beds. It often entered water bodies for a dip to cool down in the warm temperatures of semiarid zones. Its nostrils were placed high on the head which led scientists to believe that it could have lived in water or swam.

What is the difference between a Brontosaurus and a Brachiosaurus?

In the comparison between Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus, the physical appearance of the former resembled an elephant, while the latter resembled a giraffe. Brontosaurus vs Brachiosaurus facts comparison mention that Brontosaurus is the longest dinosaur while Brachiosaurus is one of the tallest dinosaurs. The Brontosaurus fossil was found first, around 30 years before Brachiosaurus.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Puertasaurus facts or Xenotarsosaurus facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Brachiosaurus coloring pages.