Giraffatitan brancai

Overview

Giraffatitan, meaning "titanic giraffe," was one of the tallest dinosaurs ever to exist! Living during the Late Jurassic period, about 150-145 million years ago, this magnificent giant towered over the African landscape like a living skyscraper, and its mounted skeleton in Berlin is one of the most famous dinosaur displays in the world!

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Taxonomy & Classification

• Clade: Sauropoda
• Family: Brachiosauridae
• Diet: Herbivorous
• Locomotion: Quadrupedal

Giraffatitan was once called "Brachiosaurus brancai" but is now recognized as its own genus!

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Physical Characteristics

Impressive Size

• Length: 22-26 meters (72-85 feet)
• Height: Up to 12 meters (40 feet) at head
• Weight: 23,000-40,000 kg (25-44 tons)
• Neck length: About 9 meters (30 feet)

Body Features

• Front legs longer than back legs—giving it an upward slope
• Long, upward-angled neck like a giraffe
• Small head with nostrils on top
• Relatively short tail for a sauropod
• Massive chest with strong ribcage

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The Berlin Skeleton

World's Most Famous Mount

The Giraffatitan in Berlin's Natural History Museum:

• Tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world!
• Stands 13.27 meters (43.5 feet) tall
• Composed of bones from multiple individuals
• Millions of visitors see it each year
• Has been displayed since 1937
• Survived World War II bombing!

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Giraffatitan vs. Brachiosaurus

Close But Different

Feature	Giraffatitan	Brachiosaurus
Location	Africa (Tanzania)	North America
Ribcage	Deeper, narrower	Broader
Skull	More pointed	More rounded
Size	About the same	About the same

For years, scientists thought they were the same animal!

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Feeding & Diet

High Browser Supreme

Giraffatitan was built for eating treetops:

• Fed on vegetation 9+ meters high
• Ate conifers, ferns, and cycads
• Could reach where no other dinosaur could
• Didn't need to compete for food
• Used peg-like teeth to strip leaves

Daily Eating

• Needed hundreds of kilograms of food daily
• Probably fed for most of the day
• Couldn't chew—swallowed food whole
• Gut bacteria helped break down tough plants

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Discovery in Africa

The Tendaguru Expedition

• Discovered in Tanzania (then German East Africa)
• Major excavations from 1909-1912
• Led by Werner Janensch
• Thousands of bones shipped to Germany
• One of the largest dinosaur expeditions ever
• Over 200 local workers helped dig!

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The Giraffe Connection

Why "Titanic Giraffe"?

• Posture resembles a giraffe
• Front legs longer than back legs
• Long neck held upward at an angle
• May have used neck to compete for mates
• Could stand taller than modern giraffes by far!

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Living in Herds

Social Giants

Evidence suggests:

• Traveled in groups or herds
• Young protected by adults
• May have migrated seasonally
• Size provided safety in numbers
• Footprints found together in trackways

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Jurassic Africa

Giraffatitan's World

Lived alongside:

• Kentrosaurus (spiky stegosaur)
• Allosaurus-like predators
• Dicraeosaurus (another sauropod)
• In semi-arid environments with seasonal rivers
• When Africa was connected to other continents

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Cool Facts

• The Berlin skeleton is the tallest dinosaur mount on Earth!
• Its nostrils were on the top of its head—scientists debate why
• Could lift its head higher than a 4-story building
• The name literally means "giant giraffe"
• Bones survived being bombed in World War II!
• Over 250 tons of fossils were shipped from Tanzania to Berlin
• A single neck vertebra could be over 1 meter long
• It may have been able to rear up on hind legs briefly

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Giraffatitan was Africa's ultimate giant—a living tower that dominated the Late Jurassic landscape and now dominates the Berlin museum, inspiring awe in visitors for nearly a century!