Mamenchisaurus

Mamenchisaurus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (Oxfordian to Aptian), 161–114.4 Ma Possible record during the Albian[1]
Mounted skeleton of M. sinocanadorum, Japan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Family: †Mamenchisauridae
Genus: †Mamenchisaurus
Young, 1954
Type species
†Mamenchisaurus constructus
Young, 1954
Other species
  • †M. hochuanensis Young & Zhao, 1972
  • †M. sinocanadorum Russell & Zheng, 1993
  • †M. youngi Pi, Ouyang & Ye, 1996
  • †M. anyuensis He et al., 1996
  • †M. jingyanensis Zhang, Li & Zeng, 1998

Mamenchisaurus (/məˌmʌntʃiˈsɔːrəs/ mə-MUN-chee-SOR-əs, Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide M or spelling pronunciation /məˌmɛntʃɪˈsɔːrəs/) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known for their remarkably long necks[2] which made up nearly half the total body length.[3] Numerous species have been assigned to the genus; however, the validity of these assignments has been questioned. Fossils have been found in the Sichuan Basin and Yunnan Province in China. Several species from the Upper Shaximiao Formation, whose geologic age is uncertain, have been described. However, evidence suggests this formation to be no earlier than the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic. M. sinocanadorum dates to the Oxfordian stage (158.7 to 161.2 mya), and M. anyuensis to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous (around 114.4 mya).[1] Most species were medium-large to large sauropods, measuring roughly 15 to 26 meters (49 to 85 ft) in length—possibly up to 35 meters (115 ft), based on two undescribed vertebrae.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ a b Wang, J.; Norell, M. A.; Pei, R.; Ye, Y.; Chang, S.-C (2019). "Surprisingly young age for the mamenchisaurid sauropods in South China". Cretaceous Research. 104: 104176. Bibcode:2019CrRes.10404176W. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2019.07.006. S2CID 199099072.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Norman, David B. (2004). "Dinosaur Systematics". In Weishampel, D.B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 318. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  4. ^ Russell, D.A., Zheng, Z. (1993). "A large mamenchisaurid from the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, People Republic of China." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, (30): 2082-2095.
  5. ^ Paul, G.S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press.
  6. ^ Paul, Gregory S. (2019). "Determining the largest known land animal: A critical comparison of differing methods for restoring the volume and mass of extinct animals" (PDF). Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 85 (4): 335–358. doi:10.2992/007.085.0403. S2CID 210840060.