Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus: 5 Key Differences Explained

Brachiosaurus and brontosaurus are both large herbivorous dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period.  They are often confused with one another. That’s an easy mistake; they are both characterized by their extremely long necks and small heads.  So, it is possible to tell them apart?  The answer is yes. There are actually quite a few key differences between them.

For a start, they have very different shapes and stances and one can make a sound louder than a cannon.  One is a solitary animal while the other is a herd animal.  Also, even though they are both incredibly large, one is clearly bigger than the other.  But which one is it?  Join us as we learn about these fascinating dinosaurs and discover all of their differences.

Comparing Brontosaurus vs Brachiosaurus

The 5 Key Differences Between Brachiosauruses and Brontosauruses

On the surface, brachiosaurus and brontosaurus seem like they’re very similar – they’re both large, tall herbivores – but there is far more to them than meets the eye.  Both were so large they had very few predators and both had long necks with small heads.  However, despite their similarities, there are still plenty of key differences which make it easy to distinguish the two.

Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus: Size

The main difference between brachiosauruses and brontosauruses is their size.  Although both are incredibly large dinosaurs in their own rights, the former is longer, while brachiosaurus was generally taller. Brontosauruses weighed up to 33,000 pounds and reached a maximum of 28 feet in height.  However, because of their long neck and tail, they reached incredible lengths of between 72 and 85 feet.

Brachiosauruses, although still long, had the edge with their height.  Brachiosauruses had a length of 60 to 70 feet, but stood 40 feet tall.  They were also much heavier and reached an impressive 128,000 pounds.  As a direct comparison, the average weight of an African bull elephant (the heaviest animal alive on Earth today) is 12,000 pounds.  This means that brachiosaurus weighed more than ten African elephants!

Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus: Limbs

Another major difference between brontosaurus and brachiosaurus is the length of their limbs.  Brachiosaurus had front legs which were longer than their hind legs while brontosaurus had front legs that were shorter than their hind legs.

Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus: Body Shape

As we’ve just explained, brachiosaurus was taller while brontosaurus was longer and the length of their front legs compared to their hind legs differed.  This means that they had a different body shape and stance.  As brachiosaurus had longer forelegs their body naturally sloped steeply downward, while brontosaurus naturally sloped slightly the opposite way, giving it a hunched appearance.  Although they both had long necks and disproportionately small heads, the length of their legs and the slope of their bodies also meant that they carried themselves differently.  Brachiosaurus carried their necks up with a slight “S” curve and had a muscular tail.  Brachiosauruses are often described as being “giraffe-like” in their shape.

On the other hand,  brontosaurus is described as being “elephant-shaped“.  Brontosaurus didn’t carry their neck anywhere near as high as brachiosaurus.  Instead, they carried their neck out in front of them, almost parallel with the ground.  Due to this, they needed an extremely long tail to counterbalance their long neck.  Their tail was long and thin, tapering down at the end to resemble a whip.  Scientists believe that brontosauruses were able to whip their tails and produce a crack of more than 200 decibels – louder than a cannon.

Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus: Nare

Nares are large nasal openings and – in the case of the brachiosaurus – are located on the top of their head and look like a large bump in front of their eyes.  Brontosauruses don’t have these large nares.  It is believed that the nares on brachiosaurus are located there because of the air sacs that were also located down the neck.  These air sacs were connected to the lung system and were present all the way down the underside of their neck.

Brachiosaurus vs Brontosaurus: Diet

Brachiosaurus and brontosaurus were both herbivores and ate a range of plants and vegetation.  However, their diet differs in where they ate it from.  Due to the physiological differences between the two dinosaurs, brachiosaurus was a high browser while brontosaurus ate at ground level.  The incredible height of brachiosaurus gave it the means to be able to eat from the high canopies of trees.  Therefore, brachiosaurus ate vegetation usually from 16 to 30 feet high.