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Clade
Subclade Archosauria: Avemetatarsalia to Neornithes 
Taxon Feedback
Taxon Brachiosauridae 
Nominal Author Riggs 1904 
2° Nominal Author  
Taxon Status active
inactive
Comments Brachiosauridae was first defined as a stem-based taxon by Wilson and Sereno (1998) and Sereno (1988) using Brachiosaurus and Saltasaurus as specifiers. The active definition is a first-order revision that uses species and includes two additional external specifiers (Euhelopus zdanskyi, Camarasaurus lentus) to ensure that these will be excluded should they prove more closely related to Brachiosaurus brancai. Camarasaurus lentus is used rather than the type species Camarasaurus supremus, as it is represented by clearly associated skulls and skeletons and is the species most often used to represent Camarasaurus in phylogenetic analysis (either explicitly or implicitly). 
Potential Synonomy  
Active Phylogenetic Definition Feedback
Active Definition The most inclusive clade containing Brachiosaurus brancai Janensch 1914 but not Saltasaurus loricatus Bonaparte and Powell 1980, Euhelopus zdanskyi Wiman 1929, Camarasaurus lentus Marsh 1889. 
Shorthand > Brachiosaurus brancai but not Saltasaurus loricatus, Euhelopus zdanskyi, Camarasaurus lentus. 
Definitional Author Sereno 2005 
Definition Status original
textual substitution
first-order revision
second-order revision
Definition Type node
stem
Node-Stem Triplet yes
no
Other Triplet Taxa Titanosauriformes, Somphospondyli 
Specifiers
Specifier A Brachiosaurus brancai 
Specifier(s) B  
Specifier(s) C Saltasaurus loricatus, Euhelopus zdanskyi, Camarasaurus lentus 
Qualifiers
+Taxon  
-Taxon  
Datum  
Taxonomic Content stem (entirely extinct)
crown (extant-bounded)
mixed (extant/extinct-bounded)
Publication Year 1998 
Inactive Taxon Status Feedback
Rejection Criteria junior synonym
historically polyphyletic
incomplete definition
no definition
apomorphy-based
redundant
other 
Critique  
 
Current Age Range Feedback
Earliest Record Kimmeridgian (156 Ma) 
Latest Record Aptian-Albian (112 Ma) 
Range (My) 44 
Basis for Range The earliest record is Brachiosaurus brancai from the Kimmeridgian Tendaguru Formation in Tanzania. The latest record is Sauroposeiden proteles from the Aptian-Albian Antlers Formation of Oklahoma (Wedel et al. 2000). Dates are rounded to the nearest million, the earliest from the beginning of the stage and the latest from the end of the stage (Gradstein et al. 2004). 
Definitional History #1
Definition 1 Titanosauriforms more closely related to Brachiosaurus than to Saltasaurus, including, by this definition, the French “Bothriospondylus” madagascarensis (i.e., not the material from Madagascar), Brachiosaurus, Eucamerotus, and Pleurocoelus. 
Author Wilson and Sereno 1998:20-21 
Type node  stem 
Specifiers Brachiosaurus than to Saltasaurus, including, by this definition, the French “Bothriospondylus” madagascarensis, Brachiosaurus, Eucamerotus, Pleurocoelus 
Qualifiers  
Definitional History #2
Definition 2 All titanosauriforms closer to Brachiosaurus than to Saltasaurus. 
Author Sereno 1998:63 
Type node  stem 
Specifiers Brachiosaurus, Saltasaurus 
Qualifiers