Giraffatitan

Giraffatitan Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Tithonian), 150–145 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
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[1])
Synonyms
Genus synonymy[2] "Abdallahsaurus" (nomen nudum) "Blancocerosaurus" (nomen nudum) "Ligomasaurus" (nomen nudum) "Mtapaisaurus" (nomen nudum) "Salimosaurus" (nomen nudum) "Wangonisaurus" (nomen nudum) Species synonymy Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch, 1914 Brachiosaurus fraasi Janensch, 1914[1]

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. Only one species is known, G. brancai, named in honor of German paleontologist Wilhelm von Branca, who was a driving force behind the expedition that discovered it in the Tendaguru Formation. Giraffatitan brancai was originally described by German paleontologist Werner Janensch as a species of the North American sauropod Brachiosaurus from the Morrison Formation, as Brachiosaurus brancai. Recent research shows that the differences between the type species of Brachiosaurus and the Tendaguru material are so large that the African material should be placed in a separate 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. 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).