Here are ten facts about brachiosaurus.
- The brachiosaurus is a long-necked dinosaur, and for many years was thought to be the largest. It lived about 150 million years ago.
- The first brachiosaurus fossils were found in 1900 but were not shown in a museum until 1994. The species became even more well known after featuring in the movie Jurassic Park.
- The brachiosaurus could grow to about 85 feet in length and weigh up to about 50 tons. It lived in what is now the state of Colorado, US.
- The neck of the brachiosaurus alone was about 30 feet long. It may have been used to eat food from the tops of trees, or to suck up food from the ground, like a vacuum cleaner hose.
- In order to raise its huge neck fully off the ground, the brachiosaurus must have had a large, muscular heart. At one point, scientists believed it lived under the water.
- The dinosaur’s name comes from the Greek words for ‘arm’ and ‘lizard’. It is so named because its front limbs are longer than its back limbs.
- The huge brachiosaurus had to eat several hundred pounds of food every day to maintain its weight. It was a herbivore and lived on a diet of leaves, ferns and primitive seed plants.
- Because it was so large and also cold blooded, the brachiosaurus was able to live a long life. Scientists estimate that the creatures may have lived to be 100.
- An asteroid was named after the brachiosaurus, in 1991. It is one of several asteroids named after dinosaur species.
- Brachiosaurus is one of the sauropod dinosaurs, along with diplodocus and apatosaurus.
