World of Dinosaurs/Brachiosaurus

Basics

Brachiosaurus means "Arm Lizard".

Brachiosaurus lived during the Jurassic Period.

Anatomy

Brachiosaurus is a large plant-eating dinosaur.

Brachiosaurus had its nostrils on the top of its head.

Note the nostrils on top of the skull.

Unusually, Brachiosaurus had longer front legs than back legs, causing its body to incline.

It had spoon shaped teeth.

Phylogeny

Brachiosaurus is a sauropod.

All sauropods are dinosaurs.

All dinosaurs are amniotes and all dinosaurs are tetrapods.

Biomechanics

Brachiosaurus depiction. Note the way the body slopes.

Unlike most other sauropods, Brachiosaurus had much longer front legs than back legs. This caused its body to incline upwards.

Fossil Record

Brachiosaurus can be found in Utah.

Ecology

Ferns, shrubs, and trees would have been common, but flowering plants, fruit trees, or grass were NOT around yet!

Brachiosaurus co-existed with Allosaurus as well as other sauropods.

Biogeography

Rocks from the Jurassic period indicate hotter, wetter conditions than we experience on Earth today.

Rocks do not show signs of ice caps near the poles, of traveling ice-bergs, or other signs of "ice house" conditions.

Brachiosaurus lived in a semi-arid, seasonal floodplain. The super-continent Pangea was splitting up throughout the Jurassic Period, adding volcanic activity, particularly along the west coast, and warm, seasonally-variable habitats.