Brachiosaurus

This dinosaur was a type of sauropod, which is a group of extremely large and long-necked herbivores. Standing at 35–40 feet tall, weighing up to 50 tons, and reaching lengths of 60–70 feet, Brachiosaurus was one of the largest land animals ever to exist.

Unlike most other sauropods like Diplodocus or Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus belonged to a group of sauropods called Macronaria. This group is characterized by having stood more upright, similar to giraffes. Having such a long neck allowed the animal to browse from trees way higher than other animals could. Being as large as it was, it would have been relatively safe from any predators. This safety would have allowed it to focus on the 200+ pounds of food it likely needed to eat each day.

Artist Rendering of Brachiosaurus

This dinosaur also had nasal openings near the top of its head rather than on the front of the snout. Early paleontologists falsely thought that this meant the animal lived in the water with only the top of its head sticking out, though we now know that it was not suited for a fully aquatic lifestyle.

Brachiosaurus has become one of the most famous dinosaurs, in part due to its majestic appearance in the original Jurassic Park in 1993. Since then, it has appeared in multiple other entries in the Jurassic Park/World franchise, the BBC documentary Walking with Dinosaurs, as well as other media.

October is “dinosaur month!” Every weekday of this month, you can come back to our Kids site to read about my 20 favorite dinosaurs. I hope you’ll join me!