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Giraffatitan brancai
Taxonomy
Brachiosaurus brancai was named by Janensch (1914). Its type specimen is MB.R.2180 (= S I; = S 66), a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Tendaguru quarry S, which is in a Kimmeridgian/Tithonian estuary/bay marl in the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania.
It was recombined as Astrodon brancai by Kingham (1962); it was recombined as Brachiosaurus (Giraffatitan) brancai by Paul (1988); it was recombined as Giraffatitan brancai by Olshevsky (1992), Taylor (2009), Marty et al. (2010), Ksepka and Norell (2010), Fowler and Sullivan (2011), Molnar (2011), Rauhut (2011), Taylor et al. (2011), D'Emic (2012), Le Loeuff et al. (2012), Knoll et al. (2012), Carballido et al. (2012), Mannion et al. (2013), Winkler et al. (2013), Royo-Torres et al. (2014), Mocho et al. (2014), Salgado et al. (2015), Salisbury et al. (2016), Maltese et al. (2018), Tschopp et al. (2019), Páramo et al. (2020), Moro et al. (2020), Sakagami and Kawabe (2020), Apesteguía et al. (2021), Poropat et al. (2023) and Schwarz et al. (2023).
It was recombined as Astrodon brancai by Kingham (1962); it was recombined as Brachiosaurus (Giraffatitan) brancai by Paul (1988); it was recombined as Giraffatitan brancai by Olshevsky (1992), Taylor (2009), Marty et al. (2010), Ksepka and Norell (2010), Fowler and Sullivan (2011), Molnar (2011), Rauhut (2011), Taylor et al. (2011), D'Emic (2012), Le Loeuff et al. (2012), Knoll et al. (2012), Carballido et al. (2012), Mannion et al. (2013), Winkler et al. (2013), Royo-Torres et al. (2014), Mocho et al. (2014), Salgado et al. (2015), Salisbury et al. (2016), Maltese et al. (2018), Tschopp et al. (2019), Páramo et al. (2020), Moro et al. (2020), Sakagami and Kawabe (2020), Apesteguía et al. (2021), Poropat et al. (2023) and Schwarz et al. (2023).
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1914 | Brachiosaurus brancai Hennig p. 418 |
| 1914 | Brachiosaurus fraasii Hennig p. 418 |
| 1914 | Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch pp. 83, 86 figs. 1-4 |
| 1914 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Janensch pp. 83, 94 figs. 5-6 |
| 1915 | Brachiosaurus brancai Lull p. 329 |
| 1915 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Lull p. 329 |
| 1919 | Brachiosaurus brancai Huene figs. Pl. VII |
| 1927 | Brachiosaurus brancai Huene p. 457 |
| 1927 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Huene p. 457 |
| 1928 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Haughton p. 72 |
| 1928 | Brachiosaurus brancai Haughton p. 74 |
| 1928 | Branchiosaurus brancai Parkinson p. 283 |
| 1933 | Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch p. 229 |
| 1934 | Brachiosaurus brancai Gross p. 756 |
| 1936 | Brachiosaurus brancai Stromer p. 81 |
| 1937 | Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch p. 550 |
| 1938 | Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch p. 130 |
| 1962 | Astrodon brancai Kingham p. 40 |
| 1962 | Astrodon fraasi Kingham p. 40 |
| 1963 | Brachiosaurus brancai Furon p. 322 |
| 1963 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Furon p. 322 |
| 1964 | Brachiosaurus brancai Tatarinov p. 549 fig. 590 |
| 1969 | Brachiosaurus brancai Van Valen p. 625 |
| 1970 | Brachiosaurus brancai Fischer p. 199 |
| 1970 | Brachiosaurus brancai Steel p. 68 |
| 1970 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Steel p. 68 |
| 1970 | Brachiosaurus brancai Swinton p. 170 fig. 38 |
| 1970 | Brachiosaurus fraasi Swinton p. 172 |
| 1972 | Brachiosaurus brancai Azzaroli p. 46 |
| 1978 | Brachiosaurus brancai Bonaparte p. 427 fig. 202 |
| 1978 | Brachiosaurus brancai Ingavat and Taquet pp. SP1-2 |
| 1979 | Brachiosaurus brancai Jain et al. p. 206 |
| 1982 | Brachiosaurus brancai Santafé et al. pp. 96-97 |
| 1983 | Brachiosaurus brancai Rich et al. p. 285 |
| 1984 | Brachiosaurus brancai Taquet p. 78 |
| 1987 | Brachiosaurus brancai Sanz et al. p. 59 |
| 1988 | Brachiosaurus (Giraffatitan) brancai Paul pp. 2-3 |
| 1990 | Brachiosaurus brancai McIntosh pp. 65-66 |
| 1991 | Brachiosaurus brancai Molnar p. 168 |
| 1992 | Giraffatitan brancai Olshevsky p. 183 |
| 1993 | Brachiosaurus brancai Martin et al. p. 422 |
| 1997 | Brachiosaurus brancai Salgado and Calvo p. 42 |
| 1997 | Brachiosaurus brancai Salgado et al. p. 5 |
| 1998 | Brachiosaurus brancai Wilson and Sereno p. 21 |
| 1999 | Brachiosaurus brancai Bonaparte pp. 149-150 |
| 2004 | Brachiosaurus brancai Upchurch et al. p. 267 |
| 2004 | Brachiosaurus brancai de Almeida et al. p. 242 |
| 2005 | Brachiosaurus brancai Apesteguía p. 249 |
| 2005 | Brachiosaurus brancai Bedell, Jr. and Trexler p. 303 |
| 2005 | Brachiosaurus brancai Dalla Vecchia p. 412 |
| 2005 | Brachiosaurus brancai Tidwell and Wilhite p. 194 |
| 2005 | Brachiosaurus branchi Wilhite p. 270 |
| 2006 | Brachiosaurus brancai Mateus p. 227 |
| 2006 | Brachiosaurus brancai Moser et al. p. 46 |
| 2006 | Brachiosaurus brancai Royo-Torres et al. figs. Table S3 |
| 2007 | Brachiosaurus brancai Apesteguía p. 542 |
| 2007 | Brachiosaurus brancai Mezga et al. p. 197 |
| 2008 | Brachiosaurus brancai Filippi and Garrido p. 581 |
| 2009 | Brachiosaurus brancai González Riga et al. p. 140 |
| 2009 | Brachiosaurus brancai Mannion p. 523 fig. 3 |
| 2009 | Giraffatitan brancai Taylor p. 799 |
| 2009 | Brachiosaurus brancai You and Li |
| 2009 | Brachiosaurus brancai Zhang et al. p. 220 |
| 2010 | Giraffatitan brancai Ksepka and Norell |
| 2010 | Giraffatitan brancai Marty et al. p. 129 |
| 2010 | Brachiosaurus brancai Saegusa et al. p. 56 |
| 2011 | Giraffatitan brancai Fowler and Sullivan p. 688 |
| 2011 | Giraffatitan brancai Molnar p. 305 |
| 2011 | Giraffatitan brancai Rauhut p. 197 |
| 2011 | Giraffatitan brancai Taylor et al. p. 79 |
| 2011 | Brachiosaurus brancai Whitlock p. 333 |
| 2012 | Giraffatitan brancai Carballido et al. p. 576 |
| 2012 | Giraffatitan brancai D'Emic |
| 2012 | Brachiosaurus brancai Klein et al. p. 1032 |
| 2012 | Giraffatitan brancai Knoll et al. p. 2 |
| 2012 | Giraffatitan brancai Le Loeuff et al. p. 487 |
| 2013 | Giraffatitan brancai Mannion et al. |
| 2013 | Giraffatitan brancai Winkler et al. p. 460 |
| 2014 | Giraffatitan brancai Mocho et al. |
| 2014 | Giraffatitan brancai Royo-Torres et al. p. 645 |
| 2015 | Brachiosaurus brancai García et al. p. 39 |
| 2015 | Giraffatitan brancai Salgado et al. p. 422 |
| 2016 | Giraffatitan brancai Salisbury et al. p. 125 |
| 2018 | Giraffatitan brancai Maltese et al. p. 8 |
| 2019 | Giraffatitan brancai Tschopp et al. p. 36 |
| 2020 | Giraffatitan brancai Moro et al. |
| 2020 | Giraffatitan brancai Páramo et al. p. 389 |
| 2020 | Giraffatitan brancai Sakagami and Kawabe p. 12 |
| 2021 | Giraffatitan brancai Apesteguía et al. |
| 2021 | Giraffatitan braincai Paulina-Carabajal and Calvo p. 9 |
| 2023 | Giraffatitan brancai Poropat et al. p. 1 |
| 2023 | Giraffatitan brancai Schwarz et al. p. 3 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Giraffatitan brancai Janensch 1914
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Invalid names: Brachiosaurus fraasi Janensch 1914 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| G. S. Paul 1988 | Gracile overall; 25 presacrals and 12 dorsals; mid dorsal centra about same length as posterior dorsal centra, anterior dorsal spines and transverse processes much taller and wider than those of posterior dorsals and form shoulder withers; neural arches short vertically and fore and aft; transversely broad transverse processes that form a shallow V; dorsal centra pleurocoels moderate in size; dorsal column less than twice humerus length and short relative to vertebra height; body mass relatively modest relative to limbs. | |
| M. P. Taylor 2009 | Postspinal laminae present on dorsal vertebrae (character 130); distal ends of transverse processes of dorsal vertebrae possess distinctive, elevated areas with dorsally-facing surface that is connected to the dorsal surface of the remaining process only by a sloping region (character 142); spinodiapophyseal and spinopostzygapophyseal laminae on middle and posterior dorsal vertebrae do not contact each other (character 146); posterior dorsal centra dorsoventrally compressed in cross-section (character 151); posterior dorsal neural spines rectangular for most of their length with little or no lateral expansion except at distal end (character 155); mid-dorsals only about one quarter longer than posterior dorsals (see Paul, 1988:7); mid-dorsals about 40% taller than posterior dorsals (see Paul, 1988:9); dorsal centra short (Janensch, 1950a:72) so that dorsal column is less than twice humerus length (Paul, 1988:9); transverse processes of dorsal vertebrae oriented dorsolaterally (Paul, 1988:9); dorsal neural spines oriented posterodorsally in lateral view; dorsal neural spines are nearly constant in anteroposterior width through much of their height; ligament rugosities on anterior and posterior faces of neural spines limited to shallow semicircles at the dorsal extremity; spinoparapophyseal laminae on some dorsal vertebrae; broad, perforated anterior centroparapophyseal laminae on some dorsal vertebrae; horizontal lamina complex (PRPL, PPDL and PODL) supported from below by forked lamina that does not contact the diapophysis in some dorsal vertebrae; hyposphenal ridge weakly developed or absent from anterior caudal vertebrae (character 178); anterior caudal vertebrae have transversely narrow neural spines (Janensch, 1950a:76); anterior caudal vertebrae with lateral fossae (Janensch, 1950a:76); glenoid articular surface of coracoid oriented directly posteroventrally; glenoid articular surface of coracoid mediolaterally narrow; humerus very gracile (GI = 8.7); lateral margin of humerus straight; projected line connecting articular surfaces of ischiadic and pubic processes of ilium passes through ventral edge of postacetabular lobe (character 264); acute posterior notch between ischiadic peduncle and postacetabular lobe of ilium; tubercle absent from dorsal margin of postacetabular lobe of ilium; distal tip of fourth trochanter lies above midshaft height (character 282); lateral margin of femoral shaft in anterior view with distinct bulge 1/3 down (character 285); femur relatively gracile (GI = 6.2); fibular condyle of femur wider than tibial condyle. |
Body mass estimates
| estimate | equation | reference |
|---|---|---|
| 47.1 tons | Sauropoda femur circumference | Anderson et al. 1985 |
Measurements
| part | N | mean | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| femur circumference | 1 | 730.0 |
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| Source: infrao = infraorder | |||||
| Reference: Marsh 1875 | |||||
Age range: base of the Oxfordian to the top of the Late/Upper Kimmeridgian or 163.50000 to 150.80000 Ma
Collections (42 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxfordian | Tanzania (Lindi) | Brachiosaurus brancai (48387 48388) | |
| Late/Upper Kimmeridgian | Tanzania (Lindi) | Brachiosaurus brancai (47146 47151 47153) Brachiosaurus fraasi (47148) | |
| Late/Upper Kimmeridgian - Tithonian | Tanzania (Lindi) | Brachiosaurus brancai (48354 48370 48371 48378 48379 48380 48381 48382 48384) Sauropoda indet. (type locality: 47147) | |
| Tithonian | Tanzania (Lindi) | Brachiosaurus brancai (47123 47137 47141 47142 47143 47145 47156 47157 47159 47161 47182 48344 48345 48349 48350 48358 48363 48364 48367 48374 48377 48385 97536 97537) Sauropoda indet. (47158 48359) |