Omeisaurus

Omeisaurus
Temporal range: 168.2–161.5 Ma
O. tianfuensis on display at the Zigong Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Family: †Mamenchisauridae
Genus: †Omeisaurus
Young, 1939
Type species
†Omeisaurus junghsiensis
Young, 1939[1]
Species
  • †O. junghsiensis Young, 1939[1]
  • †O. changshouensis Young, 1958[2]
  • †O. fuxiensis Dong, Zhou & Zhang, 1983
  • †O. tianfuensis He et al., 1984
  • †O. luoquanensis He, Li & Cai, 1988
  • †O. maoianus Tang et al., 2001
  • †O. jiaoi Jiang et al., 2011
  • †O. puxiani Tan et al., 2021[3]

Omeisaurus (meaning "Omei lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period (Bathonian-Callovian stage) of what is now China. Its name comes from Mount Emei, where it was discovered in the lower Shaximiao Formation of Sichuan Province.[1]

Like most sauropods, Omeisaurus was herbivorous and large. The largest species, O. tianfuensis, measured 18–20.2 metres (59–66 ft) long, and weighed 8.5–9.8 metric tons (9.4–10.8 short tons).[4][5] Other species were much smaller, as the type species O. junghsiensis reached a size of 14 metres (46 ft) in length and 4 metric tons (4.4 short tons) in body mass, and O. maoianus reached a size of 15 metres (49 ft) and 5 metric tons (5.5 short tons).[4]

  1. ^ a b c Young, C.C. (1939). "On a New Sauropoda, with Notes on Other Fragmentary Reptiles from Szechuan". Bulletin of the Geological Society of China. 19 (3): 279–315. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.1939.mp19003005.x.
  2. ^ Young, C.C. (1958). "New sauropods from China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 2 (1): 1–29.
  3. ^ Chao Tan; Ming Xiao; Hui Dai; Xu-Feng Hu; Ning Li; Qing-Yu Ma; Zhao-Ying Wei; Hai-Dong Yu; Can Xiong; Guang-Zhao Peng; Shan Jiang; Xin-Xin Ren; Hai-Lu You (2020). "A new species of Omeisaurus (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Yunyang, Chongqing, China fauna". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. in press. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1743286. S2CID 216282369.
  4. ^ a b Paul, Gregory S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-78684-190-2. OCLC 985402380.
  5. ^ Mazzetta, G.V.; et al. (2004). "Giants and Bizarres: Body Size of Some Southern South American Cretaceous Dinosaurs". Historical Biology. 16 (2–4): 1–13. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.694.1650. doi:10.1080/08912960410001715132. S2CID 56028251.