Brachiosaurus is a
genus of
sauropod dinosaur from the
Jurassic Morrison Formation of
North America. It was first described by
Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon (now
Colorado River) of western
Colorado, in the
United States. Riggs named the dinosaur
Brachiosaurus altithorax, declaring it "the largest known dinosaur".
Brachiosaurus had a disproportionately long neck, small skull, and large overall size, all of which are typical for sauropods. However, the proportions of
Brachiosaurus are unlike most sauropods – the forelimbs were longer than the hindlimbs, which resulted in a steeply inclined trunk, and its tail was shorter in proportion to its neck than other sauropods of the Jurassic.