The giraffetitan was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period about 140 million years ago. It was one of the largest animals known to have walked the earth. Yet, recent discoveries show that the giant Titanosaurus appears to have surpassed the Giraffatitan in terms of mass. Giraffatitan was related to Brachiosaurus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giraffatitan, meaning \"titanic giraffe\", in reference to its giraffe-like posture. It belonged to the vegetarian quadrupedal dinosaurs with a long neck and tail and a relatively small brain. It had a giraffe-like structure, with long forelimbs and a very long neck. The skull had a high curve in front of the eyes, comprising bony nostrils, several openings and huge teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principal toe of its front foot and the initial three toes of its hind feet were claws. The giraffes' teeth were designed to bite and tear off plant matter rather than to grind it, which would be the result of having torn off leaves and branches with their trunk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giraffes could reach 21.8-22.5 meters in length, about 12 meters in height and weighed 23.3-39.5 tons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was first named in 1914 by German paleontologist Werner Janensch as Brachiosaurus brancai. Several specimens recovered between 1909 and 1912 from the Tendaguru Formation near Lindi, in what was then German East Africa, now Tanzania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n