Brachiosaurus means "arm lizard". It was a sauropod dinosaur that lived in Late Jurassic times 140-150 million years ago. It was slightly different from other giant sauropods in so far as its front legs were longer than the rear ones (something like a giraffe). Like all four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs, it had a long neck and tail and a small head. It had chisel-shaped teeth, not peg-like as many other sauropods.

It may have been about 25 metres long and could reach up an incredible 13m. It may have weighed nearly 30 tonnes. [edit] Discovery and species

It was made famous because it was discovered back in 1903 and declared "the largest known dinosaur." in the newspapers. This Brachiosaurus was discovered in North America. More, similar bones were discovered in Africa and some scientists now think that the African Brachiosaurus should be renamed Giraffatitan, but to most of us there is little obvious difference. Brachiosaurus had to grow to an enormous size. Cold-blooded creatures tend to grow slowly, and some scientists think it would have taken an unlikely 100 years for Brachiosaurus to grow up if it were cold-blooded. It could have grown up much faster if it had been warm blooded. On the other hand, being warm-blooded meant that it lost more heat and so would have had to eat more food - some 200kg of plants a day (equivalent to 100 supermarket bags of potatoes).

Brachiosaurus was too big to move among the forests and so lived in the plains where ferns and other plants grew. Large dinosaurs living at the same time were Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus and Diplodocus. It had a tall hollow "crest" on the top of its head and this "sound-box" may have allowed it to sound like a fog-horn when calling to other brachiosaurs.