Brachiosauridae

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Brachiosauridae

Image:Jurassic Park screenshot 2.jpg
Brachiosaurus in Jurassic Park

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Archosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder:	Sauropoda
Family:	Brachiosauridae

Genera

Brachiosauridae is a family of dinosaurs, whose members are known as Brachiosaurids. They were herbivorous quadrupeds with longer forelegs than hind legs (hence the name, Greek for arm lizard), and long, near-vertical necks. Despite their apparently distinctive features, there is some dispute as to whether Brachiosauridae is really a distinct family or merely a collection of basal Titanosauriforms. As a result, there is also some dispute about which genera, if any, belong to this family.

Their masses would have ranged from 20 to 90 tonnes, and their unusually long and upright necks gave them access to the leaves of treetops that would have been inaccessible to other sauropods. Their long and spatulate (spoon-shaped) teeth were clearly designed to chew this kind of food. Some paleontologists had speculated that it could have reared up on its hind legs to reach even higher branches, but the short tail and hind legs would have placed its centre of gravity quite far forward, and made such a manoeuvre difficult.

Brachiosaurids existed until at least the late Campanian era (71-83mya), as caudal vertebrae from that era have been found in Mexico. Brachiosaurids fossils were first found in Africa in the early 20th Century, and are now known to have existed in Europe and North America. The first evidence of Brachiosaurids in Asia was recovered in 2001 [1], although it was only a few teeth.

The largest mounted skeleton in the world is a Brachiosaurid; the Brachiosaurus at the Humboldt Museum in Berlin, Germany.