“The High-Shouldered Giant of the Morrison”
Binomial Brachiosaurus altithorax · brak-ee-oh-SORE-us
Late Jurassic - 154-145 Ma
IllustrationBrachiosaurus fossil records in Fossil Atlas are mapped as selected modern discovery locations, with 19 source-backed records currently shown. Western North America in the selected Brachiosaurus records, with Morrison Formation context and additional source records that may reflect broader brachiosaurid usage. Key mapped formations in the current dataset include Morrison Fm, Morrison, Süntel. These pins are fossil record locations, not a complete ancient habitat map.
Brachiosaurus was a large Late Jurassic sauropod best known from North American Morrison Formation material. Its long forelimbs and elevated shoulder posture made it one of the most recognizable high-browsing dinosaurs. Fossil Atlas maps selected modern discovery records and keeps broader brachiosaurid context separate from specimen evidence.
Drawn true to scale on a metre ruler.
Length
measured21 m · 69 ft
Largest known specimens
Height
measured9.4 m (31 ft)
Body mass
estimate35,000 kg · 77,000 lb
Typical adult
Top speed
estimate10 km/h · 6 mph
Modelled, debated
Brachiosaurus stood with its shoulders higher than its hips, giving it a giraffe-like silhouette very different from the low-slung neck and tail of diplodocids. This posture allowed it to reach canopy-level vegetation that other Morrison sauropods could not access. Its sheer mass meant it had to eat almost continuously to maintain body weight.
The forelimbs
Longer than the hind limbs, the defining feature that separates Brachiosaurus from most other sauropods. This gives the body a forward-sloping profile unlike the more level backs of diplodocids.
High browsing
The combination of long forelimbs and a long neck points to feeding at heights other Morrison dinosaurs could not reach, similar to a modern giraffe's feeding strategy.
Mass
Estimates range from 30 to 60 tonnes depending on method. One of the heaviest land animals in the fossil record.
Giraffatitan
Much of what was historically called Brachiosaurus in European museums is now assigned to Giraffatitan brancai from Tanzania. The two are distinct genera, which means a significant portion of historical Brachiosaurus records now belong to a separate animal.
Position of this animal’s known range across 252 million years of the Mesozoic and beyond.
154-145 million years ago
Brachiosaurus carried unusually long forelimbs, giving it a high-shouldered profile unlike many classic sauropods.
Its Morrison Formation context links it to one of the most famous dinosaur-bearing rock units in North America.
Fossil Atlas treats its mapped pins as discovery records, not as a complete ancient range.
Elmer Riggs described Brachiosaurus altithorax from Colorado material collected in 1900, recognising that unusually long forelimbs made it different from other sauropods then known. Bones from Tanzania's Tendaguru beds, collected in the early 1900s, were long placed in Brachiosaurus as a second species. In 2009, Michael Taylor re-examined the material and argued the African animal was distinct enough to restore the older name Giraffatitan, separating a large portion of the historical Brachiosaurus record into a separate genus.
Animals known from the same deposits and time as Brachiosaurus.
Allosaurus
The dominant predator of the Morrison Formation, capable of threatening juvenile Brachiosaurus.
Stegosaurus
A plated herbivore occupying a very different, low-browsing feeding niche in the same ecosystem.
Camarasaurus
The most abundant sauropod in the Morrison, browsing at mid-level heights between Brachiosaurus and the ground feeders.
Other members of Brachiosauridae.
Camarasaurus
A shorter-necked Morrison sauropod in the same macronarian branch of the family tree.
Giraffatitan
The African relative long classified under Brachiosaurus, very similar in body plan but from Tendaguru in Tanzania.
Sauroposeidon
An enormous Cretaceous brachiosaurid from Oklahoma, one of the tallest land animals known from the North American record.
Pins show selected fossil records for Brachiosaurus; use them as modern discovery evidence, not a complete range map. Modern fossil discovery map: pins show where selected fossil and specimen records were found today, not ancient Earth positions. What does this mean?
Specimen evidence
These are sourced specimen assets, separate from reconstruction artwork. Only media with clear open or reusable rights is displayed by default.
USNM PAL 337859
Michael Brett-Surman
USNM V 5730_9
Michael Brett-Surman
USNM PAL 337859
Michael Brett-Surman
USNM PAL 337859
Michael Brett-Surman
Brachiosaurus is represented here by selected fossil records from western north america in the selected brachiosaurus records, with morrison formation context and additional source records that may reflect broader brachiosaurid usage. Fossil Atlas maps those records as modern discovery locations.
No. The map shows modern fossil discovery locations from selected records. Ancient habitat and paleogeographic reconstructions are separate questions.
The current Fossil Atlas records include Morrison Fm. Formation coverage depends on the selected dataset and may not be complete.
Yes. Use the expedition card generator to turn the Brachiosaurus map and specimen profile into a shareable card.
Selected fossil records from PBDB and museum biodiversity aggregators. This is not a complete fossil count by country; source labels and confidence notes help distinguish canonical paleobiology records from specimen-media records.
Reconstruction images are labeled illustrations and do not represent fossil evidence. Size, speed, and bite-force figures are typical published estimates and remain subject to revision as new specimens are described.
Maps use curated PBDB, museum, and specimen-source records with visible caveats.
Pins show where fossils were found or reported today, not exact ancient habitat positions.
Artwork is labeled separately from specimen photos, maps, and source records.
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