Produced by the Population Genetics and Evolution class, Furman University

The Jurassic: Giraffatitan
Originally Brachiosaurus brancai, this species of dinosaur was discovered in a series of five incomplete fossils near Lindi, Tanzania in the early 1900s. The change in genus name is based on 26 synapomorphies primarily in the vertebral column (Taylor 2009), and is still contested for over a decade after it was originally proposed in 1988 (Everything Dinosaur 2008). Like the other Brachiosaurs, Giraffatitan brancai is characterized by a neck like a giraffe’s and a short tail in proportion to its body. G. brancai is in fact the tallest of the Brachiosaurs, estimated at up to 25 m, with a shoulder height of up to 6.79 m, indicating a monstrous neck that would allow this tremendous herbivore to eat out of the highest levels of foliage (White and Kaslev 2010). Other differences between G. brancai and others of its immediate clade include a more slender, lighter build, and some changes in proportions of vertebrae and skull shape. It is thought the species diverged geographically due to migration along the supercontinent that existed during the Jurassic period (Everything Dinosaur 2008). In addition, this migration likely occurred in herds, based on the large numbers apparently present, indicating a lifestyle very similar to that of modern, large, herbivorous mammals (White and Kaslev 2010).

Page by Will Towler
Giraffatitan brancai. Pcture from: scientific-web.com

Everything Dinosaur. 2008. Everything Dinosaur Blog. Accessed March 30, 2010.

White T, Kazlev MA. 2010. Sauropodomorpha. www.palaeos.com. Accessed March 30, 2010.

Taylor M. 2009. A re-evaluation of Brachiosaurus altithorax Riggs 1903 (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) and its generic separation from Giraffatitan brancai (Janensch 1914). Journal of Vertebrate Peleontology 29(3):787-806.