Brachiosaurus may be a hard name to pronounce, but this type of dinosaur is one of the coolest dinosaurs there was. In the world of dinosaurs, the Brachiosaurus is known for its great size and long neck. This dinosaur is definitely one you want to learn more about!
Brachiosaurus Facts
Here are some awesome Brachiosaurus facts!
The Brachiosaurus was most likely a warm-blooded animal. Some scientists believe the Brachiosaurus and other sauropods (dinosaurs with long necks) were gigantotherms. Gigantothrems are animals whose huge size causes them to have high body temperatures.
Although the Brachiosaurus was very large in every way, the dinosaur’s tail was considered to be a short tail compared to the size of the dinosaur’s body.
Quick Facts
- The word dinosaur means monstrous lizard
- Adults could live to be 100 years old.
- The name Brachiosaurus means Arm Lizard.
- It is one of the most popular dinosaurs to appear in movies.
Characteristics of a Brachiosaurus
A Brachiosaurus was very easy to spot. Brachiosauruses were the tallest dinosaurs, but they had a small head and small brain. Having a small brain and not being the smartest dinosaur did not matter. Their humungous size kept them mostly safe from predators.
It was named “Arm Lizard” because this large-sized dinosaur had long front legs and short hind limbs. An adaptation that helped it reach the leaves on trees easily. It was the longest and largest dinosaur during the late Jurassic period, or 156 million years ago. It’s part of the sauropod family. This family of dinosaurs is huge plant-eaters with long necks, long tails, and a four-legged stance.
It is believed that the weight of a brachiosaurus was around 75,000 pounds. That was one of the biggest dinosaurs. This is a little less than a Boeing 737 airplane. Because of its huge size, it was a slow-moving dinosaur. It could use its long, thick tail and whip them around to help defend themselves if needed.
When Brachiosaurus had to communicate, they most likely kept in contact with one another over long distances. They would use a variety of musical honks and moans. They also used infrasonic or unhearable booms, which could travel great distances. Their calls were also used to stop disputes between individual Brachiosaurus and warn each other of danger.
What Did a Brachiosaurus Eat?
You would think because of their enormous size, the Brachiosaurus would have to eat more than leaves to survive. But this is precisely what they ate. Brachiosauruses were herbivorous dinosaurs.
Being a herbivore means they ate plant materials. Being a plant eater meant they needed to eat A LOT of them. Some of the things they ate were leaves and twigs. It is thought that Brachiosauruses ate at least 400 pounds of plants every day! It would eat the leaves high on the top of trees. The herd would often have to follow the food supply by moving to different locations for food.
Scientists once thought Brachiosaurus mainly lived in water. One cool thing about Brachiosaurus is their nostrils are on top of their heads, and scientists thought they acted like a snorkel. But, the pressure from the water would have made it near impossible for the dinosaur to breathe.
Brachiosaurus Babies
The brachiosaurus egg was one of the smallest dinosaur eggs, and it was only about 1.5 inches or the size of a chicken egg. One of the most incredible things about brachiosauruses is they would lay their eggs in a straight line, showing they laid their eggs while walking and not in nests like other groups of dinosaurs.
The brachiosaurus’s large size would have meant the eggs would have dropped at least 8 ft to the ground, causing them to break. Scientists think they had a tube-like extension, like turtles, to help get the eggs as close to the ground as possible.
Once the babies hatched, they were about 3 feet in length. They would eventually grow to be almost 40 feet long. A Brachiosaurus baby weighed under 11 pounds when born. They would grow about 2 tons each year until they were able 20 years old. Then their growth would slow down.
Brachiosaurus Enemies
If you can believe it, the Brachiosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex did not live during the same time period. The T Rex lived during the cretaceous period and would not have been a predator of the Brachiosaurus.
The Brachiosaurus was so large it did not have any enemies. However, carnivorous dinosaurs like the Allosaurus may have tried to kill them occasionally, and they may have preyed on the younger, weaker members of the Brachiosaurus herd.
Brachiosaurus Discovery
One of the only complete Brachiosaurus skeletons was found in North America. It was found in West Colorado by the assistant of Elmer Riggs in 1990. It was one of the first fossils of a Brachiosaurus that was fully intact. This fossil was an incredible find because of the tremendous size of the dinosaur. Many other dinosaur fossils have been found in this same area since.
Fun Facts
Here are some of the best dinosaur facts you have heard!
The oldest known dinosaur is the Nyasasaurus. It lived more than 243 million years ago. That is more than 82 million years before the Brachiosaurus.
When looking at the fossil record, most of the fossils of dinosaurs were found in Colorado, United States, just like the Brachiosaurus.
Brachiosaurus: One COOL Dinosaur
The Brachiosaurus was not just one of the most enormous dinosaurs ever to live in North America. It was definitely one of the coolest, from its nostrils on the top of its head, to its powerful thick tail. The Brachiosaurus was able to survive on just leaves and twigs and become one of the biggest, most powerful dinosaurs scientists have ever discovered! The Brachiosaurus definitely deserves all of the attention it receives in famous movies such as Jurassic Park.