PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Brontosaurus

Reptilia

Taxonomy

Brontosaurus was named by Marsh (1879).

It was synonymized subjectively with Camarasaurus by Huene (1927), Huene (1927), Huene (1929); it was synonymized subjectively with Atlantosaurus by Steel (1970); it was misspelled as Brontausaurus by Joleaud (1922), Lull (1924), Hay (1930), Romer (1966), Tschopp et al. (2015); it was synonymized subjectively with Apatosaurus by Riggs (1903), Huene (1908), Huene (1909), Hay (1910), von Zittel (1911), Tornier (1913), Lull (1915), Holland (1916), Gilmore (1932), Gilmore (1936), Janensch (1938), Lapparent (1943), Untermann and Untermann (1954), Romer (1956), Parsch (1963), Tatarinov (1964), Swinton (1970), Mcintosh and Berman (1975), Madsen and Miller (1979), Santafé-Llopis et al. (1981), McIntosh (1981), Coombs and Molnar (1981), McGinnis (1982), Santafé et al. (1982), Forster and Spamer (1986), McIntosh (1990), Lockley (1990), McIntosh (1995), McIntosh (1997), Upchurch et al. (2004), Upchurch et al. (2004), Foster and Peterson (2016).

It was assigned to Sauropoda by Marsh (1879), Gadow (1897); to Sauropoda by Dollo (1885), Gadow (1898), Gadow (1901); to Sauropoda by Joleaud (1922); to Atlantosauridae by Marsh (1881), Sauvage (1882), Vetter (1884), Dollo (1884), Marsh (1884), Marsh (1885), Zittel (1890), Winkler (1893), Marsh (1895), Marsh (1896), Marsh (1897), Marsh (1898), Nopcsa (1901), Mansel-Pleydell (1902), Hay (1902), Lull (1924), Hay (1930); to Titanosauridae by Romer (1966); and to Apatosaurinae by Tschopp et al. (2015).

Species

B. excelsus (syn. B. amplus), B. giganteus, B. parvus, B. yahnahpin

Synonyms

Brontosaurus giganteus was named by Anonymous (1898). It is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is foot of Freezeout Mountains [PROXY], which is in a Kimmeridgian/Tithonian alluvial fan gravel in the Morrison Formation of Wyoming.

It was considered a nomen nudum by Breithaupt (1990).
Elosaurus was named by Peterson and Gilmore (1902).

It was synonymized subjectively with Apatosaurus by McIntosh (1981), McGinnis (1982), McIntosh (1990), Carpenter and McIntosh (1994), Upchurch et al. (2004), Upchurch et al. (2004), Taylor et al. (2011); it was synonymized subjectively with Haplocanthosaurus by Salgado (1999); it was synonymized subjectively with Brontosaurus by Tschopp et al. (2015).

It was assigned to Morosauridae by Peterson and Gilmore (1902); to Sauropoda by Huene (1909), von Zittel (1911), Huene (1914); to Cardiodontinae by Huene (1927); to Camarasaurinae by Nopcsa (1928); to Cetiosauridae by Huene (1929); to Camarasauridae by Hay (1930); to Cetiosaurinae by Kuhn (1939); to Sauropoda by Tatarinov (1964); to Brachiosauridae by Romer (1966); and to Cetiosaurinae by Romer (1956), Steel (1970).
Eobrontosaurus was named by Bakker (1998).

It was synonymized subjectively with Apatosaurus by Schwarz et al. (2007); it was synonymized subjectively with Amphicoelias by Galiano and Albersdörfer (2010), Galiano and Albersdörfer (2010); it was synonymized subjectively with Brontosaurus by Tschopp et al. (2015).

It was assigned to Diplodocidae by Bakker (1998); and to Camarasauridae by Tschopp and Mateus (2013).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1879	Brontosaurus Marsh
1881	Brontosaurus Marsh
1882	Brontosaurus Sauvage p. 35
1884	Brontosaurus Dollo p. 298
1884	Brontosaurus Marsh p. 68
1884	Brontosaurus Vetter p. 351
1885	Brontosaurus Dollo p. 36
1885	Brontosaurus Marsh p. 764
1890	Brontosaurus Zittel p. 706
1893	Brontosaurus Winkler p. 101
1895	Brontosaurus Marsh
1896	Brontosaurus Marsh p. 241
1897	Brontosaurus Gadow p. 204
1897	Brontosaurus Marsh p. 494
1898	Brontosaurus giganteus Anonymous p. 29
1898	Brontosaurus Gadow p. 22
1898	Brontosaurus Marsh p. 158
1901	Brontosaurus Gadow p. 418
1901	Brontosaurus Nopcsa p. 204
1902	Brontosaurus Hay p. 485
1902	Brontosaurus Mansel-Pleydell p. lxxvi
1902	Elosaurus Peterson and Gilmore p. 491 figs. 1-10
1909	Elosaurus Huene p. 15
1911	Elosaurus von Zittel p. 288
1914	Elosaurus Huene p. 156
1922	Brontausaurus Joleaud p. 62
1924	Brontosaurus Lull p. 234
1927	Elosaurus Huene p. 460
1928	Elosaurus Nopcsa p. 184
1929	Elosaurus Huene p. 108
1930	Elosaurus Hay p. 193
1930	Brontosaurus Hay p. 195
1939	Elosaurus Kuhn p. 86
1956	Elosaurus Romer p. 620
1964	Elosaurus Tatarinov p. 549
1966	Brontosaurus Romer p. 370
1966	Elosaurus Romer p. 370
1970	Elosaurus Steel p. 66
1998	Eobrontosaurus Bakker p. 74
2013	Eobrontosaurus Tschopp and Mateus p. 880
2015	Brontosaurus Tschopp et al.

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Saurischia	()
—	Sauropoda	()
—	Gravisauria
—	Eusauropoda
—	Neosauropoda
—	Diplodocoidea	()
—	Diplodocimorpha
—	Flagellicaudata
—	Diplodocidae	()
subfamily	Apatosaurinae
genus	Brontosaurus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Brontosaurus Marsh 1879

show all | hide all

†Brontosaurus excelsus Marsh 1879

hide

Invalid names: Brontosaurus amplus Marsh 1881 [synonym]

†Brontosaurus parvus Peterson and Gilmore 1902

†Brontosaurus yahnahpin Filla and Redman 1994

Invalid names: Brontosaurus giganteus Anonymous 1898 [nomen nudum], Elosaurus Peterson and Gilmore 1902 [synonym], Eobrontosaurus Bakker 1998 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Body mass estimates

estimate	equation	reference
47.1 tons	Sauropoda femur circumference	Anderson et al. 1985

Measurements

part	N	mean
femur circumference	1	730.0
tibia circumference	1	480.0

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteinfrao

Entire body:

yesinfrao

Adult length:

10 to < 100infrao

Adult width:

10 to < 100infrao

Adult height:

10 to < 100infrao

Thickness:

thickinfrao

Architecture:

compact or denseinfrao

Form:

sphericalinfrao

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partsinfrao

Grouping:

gregariousinfrao

Environment:

terrestrialinfrao

Locomotion:

actively mobileinfrao

Life habit:

ground dwellinginfrao

Diet:

herbivoreinfrao

Reproduction:

oviparousinfrao

Dispersal:

direct/internalinfrao

Dispersal 2:

mobileinfrao

Created:

2004-12-14 12:49:10

Modified:

2004-12-14 14:49:10

Source: infrao = infraorder

Reference: Marsh 1875

Age range: base of the Tithonian to the top of the Early/Lower Tithonian or 149.20000 to 145.06000 Ma

Collections (21 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Kimmeridgian - Tithonian	154.8 - 143.1	USA (Utah)	B. parvus (58516)
Kimmeridgian - Tithonian	154.8 - 143.1	USA (Wyoming)	Apatosaurus excelsus (57898 57900 57902 142335 142336 142337) Apatosaurus sp. (49627) Apatosaurus yahnahpin (55487 230771) B. amplus (39369) B. excelsus (39368) B. giganteus (221673) B. sp. (13352 22648 188398) Elosaurus parvus, B. sp. (52816)
Kimmeridgian - Tithonian	154.8 - 143.1	USA (Colorado)	B. excelsus (36576)
Late/Upper Kimmeridgian - Early/Lower Tithonian	152.21 - 145.06	USA (Colorado)	B. sp., Diplodocus sp. (28366)
Late/Upper Kimmeridgian - Tithonian	152.21 - 143.1	USA (Oklahoma)	Apatosaurus parvus (49338)
Tithonian	149.2 - 143.1	USA (Colorado)	Apatosaurus excelsus (48161)