Talk:Giraffatitan/DraftReWrite
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Giraffatitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known only from the Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of 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 Giraffatitan. Typically for a sauropod are the proportionally long neck, small skull, and large overall size of Giraffatitan. Also, the limbs were pillar-like, and the hands columnar. Unusually, in contrast, are the long forelimbs, which result in a steeply inclined trunk, making the overall body shape reminiscent of a modern giraffe. Also, while the tail is a typical long dinosaur tail, it is relatively short for a sauropod. These features show that Giraffatitan belongs in the family Brachiosauridae. Indeed,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.
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Skeleton on display in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany | |
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Genus: | †Giraffatitan Paul, 1988 |
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