Giraffatitan
Giraffatitan (name meaning "titanic giraffe") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian–Tithonian stages) in what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. It was originally named as an African species of Brachiosaurus (B. brancai), but this has since been moved to its own genus. Giraffatitan was for many decades known as the largest dinosaur but recent discoveries of several larger dinosaurs prove otherwise; giant titanosaurians appear to have surpassed Giraffatitan in terms of sheer mass. Also, the sauropod dinosaur Sauroposeidon is estimated to be taller and possibly heavier than Giraffatitan.
| Giraffatitan Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Tithonian), | |
|---|---|
| Mounted skeleton, Berlin's Natural History Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Family: | †Brachiosauridae |
| Genus: | †Giraffatitan Paul, 1988 |
| Type species | |
| †Giraffatitan brancai (Janensch, 1914) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
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Most size estimates for Giraffatitan are based on the specimen HMN SII, a subadult individual, but there is evidence supporting that these animals could grow larger; specimen HMN XV2, represented by a fibula 13% larger than the corresponding material on HMN SII, would have measured around 23–26 metres (75–85 ft) long and weighed about 40–48 metric tons (44–53 short tons).