Mamenchisaurus
Mamenchisaurus was a long-necked, plant-eating sauropod dinosaur.[1] It had one of the longest necks of any known dinosaur. Mamenchisaurus was first discovered in 1952 on the construction site of the Yitang Highway in Sichuan Province of China. There are a number of species.[2]
| Mamenchisaurus Temporal range: Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous 161–114.4 mya
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| Genus: | Mamenchisaurus
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Its neck was about 46 feet (14 m). It had 19 vertebrae in its neck, more than any other known dinosaur. Mamenchisaurus was about 70 to 80 feet (21 to 25 m) long and weighed roughly 12 tons (11 tonnes).
Its hind legs were longer than the front legs; these hind legs were similar to the legs of Diplodocus. Its skull however, was box-shaped, unlike Diplodocus' elongated snout.
Mamenchisaurus Media
Mounted M. hochuanensis skeleton, Field Museum
The holotype skulls of M. youngi, M. jingyanensis, and M. sinocanadorum, and a skull referred to M. hochuanensis
Location of Xinjiang province in China, where M. sinocanadorum is found; the Junggar Basin is seen in yellow.
Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis skeleton mounted at BMNH
Fossil of indeterminate Sauropoda, Japanese name "Moshi-ryu". Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.
Mamenchisaurus Species Scale Steveoc86
Artist's impression of M. youngi
References
- ↑ Sues, Hans-Dieter (1997). "Sauropods". In James Orville Farlow; M.K. Brett-Surman (eds) The Complete Dinosaur. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 274. ISBN 0-253-33349-0
- ↑ Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Dodson, Peter 2004. "Sauropoda" in The Dinosauria. Weishampel, David B., Dodson, Peter., Osmólska, Halszka. (2nd ed). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-94143-4