Brachiosaurus

"It's a...It's a dinosaur!"

- Alan Grant sunned by the Brachiosaurus.

Brachiosaurus is a member of the sauropod family and one of the most well known of all dinosaurs. It gets its name from the great height of its humerus, or upper arm bone - which is longer than most humans are tall. For almost a century, Brachiosaurus was considered the tallest of all dinosaurs, being over nine metres tall. Since then, other dinosaurs have been discovered to have been taller.

Originally discovered in 1900 in Colorado, Brachiosaurus was named in 1903 by Elmer Riggs of the Field Museum in Chicago. Brachiosaurus was once thought to have lived in both the United States and Africa (Tanzania) in the Jurassic. Scientists believed that Africa and North America were connected during the Jurassic. However, the African species of Brachiosaurus is now thought to be a different genus called Giraffatitan.

New studies by computer specialists suggest that Brachiosaurus may not have carried its neck angle up as high as was thought once. It may have carried the neck more at a 45 - 60 degree angle.

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Creation
Brachiosaurus was recreated by InGen in their compound on Isla Sorna where the workers on the island served as their caretakers.

These clones chewed their food unlike the original Brachiosaurus and other sauropods, which could mean the Brachiosaur clones probably didn't require s to aid in digestion. Also, unlike the original dinosaur, the cloned Brachiosaurus had hind legs strong enough to allow them to get into a tripod stance while feeding. Another odd characteristic was the nostrils, which were located on the forehead rather than near the snout region. They would communicate by using whale-like hoots. The Brachiosaurs on Isla Nubalr came in two different colors, one being gray-brown, and the other being gray-brown with a creamy underbelly and turquoise tinge on their crests. It is suggested that the ones with turquoise are males and the plain brown ones are females.

When the Brachiosaurs reached a certain age, they would be transported to the nearby island Isla Nublar to serve as an attraction for InGen's Jurassic Park. They lived in the Brachiosaurus Enclosure, coexisting with the hadrosaur Parasaurolophus.

Isla Nublar Incident (1993)
The Brachiosaurus was the first dinosaur encountered by the endorsement team hired by InGen to make sure Jurassic Park was safe for visitors. The entire team was amazed. Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler were the most awestruck of the group because the Brachiosaurus was terrestrial, not semi-aquatic swamp dwellers they had thought they were. When Dennis Nedry disabled Jurassic Park's security systems, the security fences that kept the prehistoric animals from escaping their enclosures were disabled as well, Brachiosaurus was one of the dinosaurs that were able to roam freely.

After fleeing from the Tyrannosaur Paddock, Dr. Alan Grant and Tim and Lex Murphy climbed a tree where saw a herd of Brachiosaurs feeding on the nearby trees, hooting in the distance. Dr. Alan Grant heard their calls and attempted to imitate them to successful results. The following morning, a Brachiosaurus sick with a cold or a similar disease fed on the tree that the three humans were sleeping in, waking them up. Lex panicked at the sight of the dinosaur, believing it to be dangerous at first, but she soon calmed down when Dr. Alan Grant and her brother showed her that it was harmless. Dr. Grant fed the Brachiosaur a nearby branch that was on the tree and Tim Murphy even pet it. However, when Lex attempted to pet the dinosaur like her brother did, the Brachiosaur responded by sneezing on her. The humans and the Brachiosaurus later went their separate ways.

It is unknown what happened to the Brachiosaur populations on Isla Nublar after the Isla Nublar Incident of 1993.

Wild on Isla Sorna
Upon Hurricane Clarissa's arrival on Isla Sorna, the human workers evacuated the island. The Brachiosaurs under their care were either set free or they broke out of their cages. To counter the Lysine contingency, the wild Brachiosaurus ate plants rich in Lysine.

Brachiosaurus was known to have taken residence in the northeast of the island where it was the largest herbivore known to that region. It coexisted with the fellow herbivores Ankylosaurus, Corythosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops. The Isla Sorna Brachiosaurs are much different to the Isla Nublar Brachiosaurus. These new clones are beige with green stripes, with some having dark red on their crests. The red crested ones could be the males of this different variation.

Isla Sorna Incident (2001)
Passengers of the plane N622DC saw a herd of Brachiosaurus during their fly-over of Isla Sorna at the beginning of the Isla Sorna Incident of 2001.

Another herd was seen by Dr. Alan Grant and the Kirby family at a river bank.

Jurassic World
Brachiosaurus is one of the dinosaurs seen on the Holoscape inside the Innovation Center of the Jurassic World park. It is unknown whether any animals reside in the park, but Brachiosaurus calls can be heard in.

However, it was planned for the Treetop Gazers attraction though this still doesn't answer whether or not it was created, or if there were still living specimens, before the conception of the attraction. According to the concept art, the clones made for Jurassic World had brown skin much like the previous, but with a blue stripe down its head and neck.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
"Look at that. Thought I'd never see one in real life. She's beautiful."

- Zia Rodriguez seeing the Brachiosaurus for the first time in her life.

It is revealed that there are some surviving Brachiosaurus populations on Isla Nublar, but the species faces danger in the form of an impending erupting volcano.

A Brachiosaurus is later seen walking down the destroyed Main Street, in front of Owen, Claire, Zia and others.

When Mt. Sibo erupts, the Brachiosaurs face many heavy casualties, most notably, as the boat 'Arcadia' leaves Nublar to its fate, a Brachiosaurus, the same one seen by Grant and Sattler 25 years ago, is seen walking down the East Dock, crying out and standing on its hind legs as it is slowly ingulfed by the toxic smoke and debris from the erupting volcano, letting out its final cries.

Some of Mill's mercenaries managed to salvage its viable embryo, as seen during Malcolm's voiced over final testimony with the committee, implying that more Brachiosaurus may be engineered in the future.

It is possible that Brachiosaurus was saved offscreen. The species survival is seemingly confirmed by the Arcadia's manifest, which shows that at least two adult Brachiosaurus has been captured offscreen. It is implied that these individuals, and possibly others of their kind, escaped the Lockwood Manor along with the other dinosaurs.

Trivia

 * Brachiosaurus is the only dinosaur to be given a possible maximum age. The encyclopedia included with DVD of the first film puts their age at a maximum of two hundred years.
 * When the boat 'Arcadia' left the island and the Brachiosaurus was walking down the East Dock, it references the fact that Isla Nublar began with the Brachiosaurus, and since Isla Nublar is experiencing its end, the Brachiosaurus is the last dinosaur that is ever seen of Isla Nublar.


 * -|Games=

Jurassic Park (NES)
In the NES video game Jurassic Park, Brachiosaurus can be seen swimming in the river in the game's second level.

Jurassic Park (SEGA Genesis)
In both the SEGA Genesis and Sega Game Gear versions of Jurassic Park, the games feature Brachiosaurus living in water despite this being an outdated theory.

Jurassic Park (arcade game)
In the Jurassic Park arcade game in Area 2.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park console game
A herd of brachiosaurs appear on the Compsognathus level in The Lost World: Jurassic Park on Playstation where the Compsognathus has to avoid the feet. Stangely, the Brachiosaurus have their heads down really low, although they may be keeping a low profile as there is a Carnotaurus near by.

Warpath: Jurassic Park
Brachiosaurus is heard in Warpath: Jurassic Park in the main menu and possibly in some other levels, but it is not physically seen in the game.

Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Brachiosaurus is the first dinosaur to be encountered in Jurassic Park: Trespasser. Two brachiosaurs are seen near the end of "The Beach". Another Brachiosaur is seen after the cliff in the "Jungle Road".

The ground shakes if a Brachiosaur is walking nearby. The Brach won't take notice of the player, even if the player shoots at the creature.

Jurassic Park III: Park Builder
Brachiosaurus appears in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder as number 57 of the Herbivore Threes that can be created.

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
see Brachiosaurus/Operation Genesis

It appears in Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis as a five-star large herbivore. No carnivores attack it purposely, presumably because it's too big to attack. Brachiosaurus is significantly tall, reaching the treetops even on all fours. It is exponentially larger than its movie counterparts (giving the accurate height of a real Brachiosaur), measuring about 80–82 ft and stand 23 ft at the hips. This Brachiosaurus seemed to be a mix of the Jurassic Park III and Jurassic Park Brachiosaurus colors.

Jurassic Park: Builder
see Brachiosaurus/Builder

Brachiosaurus is one of the available dinosaurs in the IOS application, Jurassic Park: Builder.

LEGO Jurassic World
Brachiosaurus appears in the video game LEGO Jurassic World as one of the playable dinosaurs. Its special ability is rearing up on its hind legs and stomping on the ground, destroying any objects in its radius.

Jurassic World: Evolution
Brachiosaurus appears in Jurassic World: Evolution, as seen in the all of the trailers and its' own species profile. Its' design is based on the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom variants.

Jurassic World: Alive
see Brachiosaurus/JW: A

Brachiosaurus appears in Jurassic World: Alive as an epic dinosaur. Its' design is based on the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom variants.

Behind the scenes
Early in the development of the first film, Phil Tippett lobbied for the Apatosaurus from the novel to be replaced by Brachiosaurus or Ultrasaurus in the film adaptation because the aforementioned sauropods were bigger than Apatosaurus and Tippett felt that the sauropods he was lobbying for had a "much more interesting design" physiologically. Ultimately, Brachiosaurus was the sauropod that was picked for the film, though Ultrasaurus would later appear in Jurassic Park: The Ride.

While writing the script for, screenwriter David Koepp mistook Brachiosaurus for Brontosaurus. This is alluded to in the final film when Tim Murphy misidentifies a Brachiosaur herd as "Brontosauruses".

When designing the Brachiosaurus for the first film, Mark "Crash" McCreery visited a zoo that was keeping African elephants. He studied the elephants to give the film's Brachiosaurus its impressive mass and weight. From studying these animals, it also helped give the skin of the Brachiosaurus a tough and leathery look.

Because Stan Winston wanted the Brachiosaurus in Jurassic Park to appear docile, the animatronic for the dinosaur was given a 4-axis jaw that allowed its jaw to move from side to side reminiscent of a cow chewing cud. It was the largest puppet that Stan Winston Studios built for the film that did not use any hydraulics. Its sneeze was created from K-Y jelly, green and yellow food colorings, and a food thickener.

Brachiosaurus was the first CGI dinosaur to be created during post-production of Jurassic Park. During the creation of the CGI model, director Steven Spielberg would frequently critique it. Spielberg requested that the Brachiosaurus that appeared in its reveal scene be made larger, but when Industrial Light and Magic made it twice the size that it was intended to be, the dinosaur towered over the branches when it reared up on its hind legs. To counteract this, the head and neck of the Brachiosaur's model were lowered so it could reach the branches that were below it. TyRuben Ellingson painted the digital maps used for the color of the Brachiosaurus in the film. The movements of the Brach were based on both the elephant and the giraffe. The giraffe was used for the sauropods long strides and grace while the elephant gave it the weight and mass as it moved.

Several animals were used in the creation of the sounds of the Brachiosaurus. These animals include swans, geese, elephants, cows, and donkeys. The sounds of the donkeys were slowed down to create the "singing" sound the Brachiosaurs make.

The Ronto for the 1997 Special Edition was created from a modified model of the Brachiosaurus from the first film. Industrial Light and Magic even referred to the Ronto as "Bronto" before it was named "Ronto", which was the name gave to this alien creature that is simply its production nickname with the "b" dropped. The Brachiosaurus model from the first film was also retrofitted to serve as the Mamenchisaurus for the sequel to Jurassic Park,.

Empire Magazine called the first encounter with the Brachiosaurus the 27th most magical moment in cinema.

In the Jurassic World storyboard, an attraction called "Brachiosaur Valley" was to be visited. This idea seems to have been reworked into the planned Jurassic World attraction Treetop Gazers.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona revealed that the Brachiosaurus that died in the pyroclastic flow seen in the film is in fact the exact same Brachiosaurus first seen by Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler in the original Jurassic Park film, serving as a tragic end to the ill-fated ventures on Isla Nublar. In addition, he said that the moment where the Brachiosaur is seen through the fire in the pyroclastic flow is a reference to , when E.T.'s heart glows.

The Apatosaurus skull that was seen on JurassicWorld.com until it was removed does not belong to the dinosaur at all, rather it belongs to a Brachiosaurus. Its icon on JurassicWorld.com and the Holoscape is also of Brachiosaurus. Furthermore, Brachiosaurus vocalizations were also reused for Apatosaurus in the film as well.

Much like Tim, fans have confused Brachiosaurus in the first film for Brontosaurus.

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