Mamenchisaurus
Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis
Mamenchisaurus is a well-known example of the long necks that Asian sauropods evolved independently.
Image: Zhangzhugang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis
- Period
- Late Jurassic (Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian)
- Lived
- 160–150 Ma (160 million years ago)
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Habitat
- Forest, Plains
- Length (estimate)
- 22 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 15,000 kg
Description
Mamenchisaurus was a large sauropod with an exceptionally long neck made up of numerous cervical vertebrae. The light construction of some vertebrae reduced weight, but its precise posture and range of motion are disputed. It ate plants and probably used its neck to reach vegetation across a broad area. Length estimates vary considerably among species and skeletons, so general size figures should be treated cautiously.
Habitat
Humid forests and river plains in East Asia.
Fossil sites
Hekou Group, Chongqing
Shaximiao Formation
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Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Mamenchisaurus