Brachiosaurus Facts for Kids

A Picture of Brachiosaurus altithorax
  • Species Type: Brachiosaurus altithorax
  • Type of Dinosaur: Sauropod
  • Period: Late Jurassic
  • Diet: Foliage (herbivorous)
  • Lifespan: 100 years (roughly)
  • Length: Between 59 and 69 feet
  • Weight: Between 28 and 62 tons

17 Brachiosaurus Facts for Kids

  1. The Brachiosaurus was discovered in 1900, by Elmer S. Riggs in Colorado, USA.
  2. The Brachiosaurus got its scientific name Brachiosaurus altithorax 1903, by Elmer S. Riggs.
  3. The name Brachiosaurus means: “Arm Lizard”.
  4. The name Brachiosaurus is pronounced: “BRACK-ee-uh-SAWR-us”.
  5. The Brachiosaurus belongs to a group of dinosaurs known as sauropods.
  6. They lived during the Late Jurassic period, between 153 and 154 million years ago in North America.
  7. Estimates put the weight of a Brachiosaurus between 28 and 62 tons.
  8. Estimates put the length of a Brachiosaurus between 59 and 69 feet.
  9. Estimates put the lifespan of a Brachiosaurus around 100 years.
  10. The Brachiosaurus was a quadruped, meaning it walked on four legs.
  11. The Brachiosaurus has four legs, but they weren’t equal in size. The rear legs were longer than the front. Paleontologists think this means the Brachiosaurus could have reared up on its high legs.
  12. The Brachiosaurus was a high browsing herbivore and ate foliage at the top of tree canopies.
  13. Paleontologists think the Brachiosaurus ate between 400 and 900 pounds of food each day.
  14. The Brachiosaurus would grind up foliage using its 52 cone-shaped teeth.
  15. A fully grown Brachiosaurus probably had no predators. The average size of an apex predator living during the same period would of only been half the size.
  16. In 1991, a main belt asteroid was named 9954 Brachiosaurus after the Brachiosaurus.
  17. In 1993, in the motion picture Jurassic Park, the Brachiosaurus was the first dinosaur to appear in a movie through the use of computer generation.

Additional Resources on Brachiosaurus

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