Brachiosaurus is a member of the sauropod family and one of the most well-known of all dinosaurs. It gets its name from the great height of its humerus, or upper arm bone - which is longer than most humans are tall. For almost a century, Brachiosaurus was considered the tallest of all dinosaurs, being over 20 metres tall. Since then, other dinosaurs have been discovered to have been taller.
Originally discovered in 1900 in Colorado, Brachiosaurus was named in 1903 by Elmer Riggs of the Field Museum in Chicago. Brachiosaurus was once thought to have lived in both the United States and Africa (Tanzania) and Europe (Portugal) in the Jurassic. Scientists believed that Africa and North America were connected during the Jurassic. However, the African species of Brachiosaurus is now thought to be a different genus called Giraffatitan.
New studies by computer specialists suggest that Brachiosaurus may not have carried its neck angle up as high as was thought once. It may have carried the neck more at a 45 - 60 degree angle.
10 Brachiosaurus were recreated by InGen in their compound on Isla Sorna where the workers on the island served as their caretakers.
These clones chewed their food, unlike the original Brachiosaurus and other sauropods, which could mean the Brachiosaurus clones probably didn't require gastroliths to aid in digestion. Also, unlike the original dinosaur, the cloned Brachiosaurus had hind legs strong enough to allow them to get into a tripod stance while feeding. The clones have elephant-like feet instead of one large claw on the first toe of each front foot and claws on the first three toes of their back feet. Another odd characteristic was the nostrils, located on the forehead rather than near the snout region. They would communicate by using whale-like hoots. The Brachiosaurus on Isla Nublar came in two different colors, one being gray-brown and the other being gray-brown with a creamy underbelly and turquoise tinge on their crests. It is suggested that the ones with turquoise are males and the plain brown ones are females.
The Brachiosaurus was the first dinosaur encountered by the endorsement team hired by InGen to make sure Jurassic Park was safe for visitors. The entire team was amazed. Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler were the most awestruck of the group because the Brachiosaurus was terrestrial, not semi-aquatic swamp dwellers they had thought they were.
When the Brachiosaurus reached a certain age, they would be transported to the nearby island Isla Nublar to serve as an attraction for InGen's Jurassic Park. They lived in the Brachiosaurus Enclosure, coexisting with the hadrosaur Parasaurolophus.
