#macronarian

Streaming some " I wani hug that gator!" live fan dubbing! I'm playing Liv the Brachiosaurus and letting the cast know about the Jurrasic Park / Palaeontology referances.

(Note: I am not a professional paleontologist or even biologist. I am just and amateur paleoartist and enthusiast. If my infos are off in some way, feel free to correct them ^^)

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DINOCEMBER

12 - Giraffatitan brancai (from Greek "titanic giraffe") - Late Jurassic (150-145 Ma BCE) - Tendaguru Formation, Lindi, Tanzania One of the most impressive sauropods that has ever existed, the Giraffatitan is the member of its family with the most complete fossil material, being for a long time considered the largest terrestrial animal that has ever existed, at least 26 meters long, 12 meters high and weighing somewhere between 15 and 60 tonnes, today being smaller than its distant relatives, the titanosaurs, but still impressive nonetheless. Although its name is not familiar to many, the Giraffatitan has long been considered the African species of the Brachiosaurus genus in North America, until recent research has indicated its identity as a species of its own, but still a member of the same family. As a brachiosauridae, the Giraffatitan had as main characteristics its forelimbs larger than its hindqlimbs, a relatively short tail for a sauropod and a long and at the same time muscular neck, which it would use to reach the highest leaves of trees such as conifers, araucaria and palm trees, being a high-browser, just like the current giraffes, probably walking in small groups through the large savanna of the Tendaguru Formation, next to a large coastal plain, dotted with areas of tropical vegetation and wetlands, but still without plants with flowers or fruits , having as "sister" formations, both in fauna and environment, the Morrison Formation, in the western USA, and the Lourinhã Formation, in Portugal, all showing the great abundance of Jurassic paleofauna. For a long time, these large sauropods were believed to be aquatic animals, unable to support their massive bodies on land and using their nostrils on top of their heads as a "snorkel", but everything indicates that both the Giraffatitan and other large sauropods were totally able to live on dry land, with relatively light bones and air sac systems to reduce their weight, albeit massive. The position of their nostrils was also revealed to be erroneous, having them closer to the tip of their snouts, which is the rule in most tetrapods.

Image from EarthArchives, drawn by Fabrizio De Rossi 

A is for Alamosaurus!