World of Dinosaurs/Brachiosaurus
Basics
[edit | edit source]Brachiosaurus means "Arm Lizard".
Brachiosaurus lived during the Jurassic Period.
Anatomy
[edit | edit source]Brachiosaurus is a large plant-eating dinosaur.
Brachiosaurus had its nostrils on the top of its head.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Brachiosaurus_skull_in_Japan.jpg/220px-Brachiosaurus_skull_in_Japan.jpg)
Unusually, Brachiosaurus had longer front legs than back legs, causing its body to incline.
It had spoon shaped teeth.
Phylogeny
[edit | edit source]Brachiosaurus is a sauropod.
All sauropods are dinosaurs.
All dinosaurs are amniotes and all dinosaurs are tetrapods.
Biomechanics
[edit | edit source]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Brachiosaurus_altithorax_side_profile.png/358px-Brachiosaurus_altithorax_side_profile.png)
Unlike most other sauropods, Brachiosaurus had much longer front legs than back legs. This caused its body to incline upwards.
Fossil Record
[edit | edit source]Brachiosaurus can be found in Utah.
Ecology
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]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.