Genus
Valid Extinct

Brontosaurus

Marsh 1879

Brontosaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period. It was described by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879, the type species being dubbed B. excelsus, based on a partial skeleton lacking a skull found in Como Bluff, Wyoming. In subsequent years, two more species of Brontosaurus were named: B. parvus in 1902 and B. yahnahpin in 1994. Brontosaurus lived about 156 to 146 million years ago (mya) during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages in the Morrison Formation of what is now Utah and Wyoming. For decades, the animal was thought to have been a taxonomic synonym of its close relative Apatosaurus, but a 2015 study by Emmanuel Tschopp and colleagues found it to be distinct. It has seen widespread representation in popular culture, being the archetypal "long-necked" dinosaur in general media.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
23
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Brontosaurus
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Wikimedia
Brontosaurus
Brontosaurus
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
Sauropoda Unranked clade
Gravisauria Unranked clade
Eusauropoda Unranked clade
Neosauropoda Unranked clade
Diplodocoidea Unranked clade
Diplodocimorpha Unranked clade
Flagellicaudata Unranked clade
Diplodocidae Unranked clade
Apatosaurinae Subfamily
Brontosaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
19 m
Brontosaurus parvus — min connu
21 m
Brontosaurus excelsus — max connu
Mass
14 000 kg
Brontosaurus parvus — min connu
16 000 kg
Brontosaurus excelsus — max connu
Fossil sites 23 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
23
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
23
Species (5)
Brontosaurus amplus subjective synonym of Brontosaurus excelsus 155 Ma
Brontosaurus excelsus 155 Ma
Brontosaurus giganteus nomen nudum, species not entered Brontosaurus 155 Ma
Brontosaurus parvus 155 Ma
Brontosaurus yahnahpin 155 Ma
Synonyms (3)
Brontosaurus giganteus nomen nudum, species not entered Brontosaurus
Elosaurus subjective synonym of Brontosaurus
Eobrontosaurus subjective synonym of Brontosaurus
Bibliography
Original description
O. C. Marsh. 1879. Notice of new Jurassic reptiles. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 18:501–505 DOI ↗
Bibliography (15)
E. Tschopp, O. Mateus, and R. B. J. Benson. 2015. A specimen-level phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of Diplodocidae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda). PeerJ 3:e857 DOI ↗
P. Upchurch, Y. Tomida, and P. M. Barrett. 2004. A new specimen of Apatosaurus ajax (Sauropoda, Diplodocidae) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA. National Science Museum Monographs 26:1-118
M. V. Connely. 2002. Stratigraphy and Paleoecology of the Morrison Formation, Como Bluff, Wyoming
C. E. Turner and F. Peterson. 1999. Biostratigraphy of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Western Interior, U.S.A. Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah, Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1:77-114
R. T. Bakker. 1998. Dinosaur mid-life crisis: the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition in Wyoming and Colorado. Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 14:67-77
K. Carpenter. 1998. Vertebrate biostratigraphy of the Morrison Formation near Cañon City, Colorado. Modern Geology 23:407-426
B. J. Filla and P. D. Redman. 1994. Apatosaurus yahnahpin: a preliminary description of a new species of diplodocid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of southern Wyoming, the first sauropod dinosaur found with a complete set of "belly ribs". Wyoming Geological Association Forty-Fourth Annual Field Conference. Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook 44:159-178
J. S. McIntosh. 1981. Annotated catalogue of the dinosaurs (Reptilia, Archosauria) in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18:1-67 DOI ↗
S. R. McKelvey. 1920. The Dinosauria with Special Reference to the Dinosaur of Colorado DOI ↗
C. W. Gilmore. 1914. Osteology of the armored Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus. United States National Museum Bulletin 89:1-136 DOI ↗
E. S. Riggs. 1903. The vertebral column of Brontosaurus. Science 17(427):393-394 DOI ↗
O. A. Peterson and C. W. Gilmore. 1902. Elosaurus parvus: a new genus and species of the Sauropoda. Annals of Carnegie Museum 1:490-499 DOI ↗
Anonymous. 1898. Most colossal animal ever on earth just found out west. New York Journal and Advertiser
O. C. Marsh. 1881. Principal characters of American Jurassic dinosaurs. Part V. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 21:417-423 DOI ↗
O. C. Marsh. 1879. Notice of new Jurassic reptiles. The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 18:501–505 DOI ↗