Mamenchisaurus

Mamenchisaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaurs known for their remarkably long necks, which made up nearly half the total body length. 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, and M. anyuensis to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Most species were medium-large to large sauropods, measuring roughly 15 to 26 meters in length—possibly up to 35 meters (115 ft), based on two undescribed vertebrae.

Mamenchisaurus

Zhangzhugang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MamenchisauridaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Sauropoda
Life habit
ground dwelling, gregariousPBDB, for Sauropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Sauropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Sauropoda
Length
22 mWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 161.5 Mya to 119.57 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 168.2 Mya to 113.2 Mya.

Middle Jurassic — about 7 of 24 occurrencesMiddle JurassicLate Jurassic — about 15 of 24 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 2 of 24 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous169–167 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences167–165 Mya — about 2 occurrences165–164 Mya — about 2 occurrences164–162 Mya — about 2 occurrences162–160 Mya — about 2 occurrences160–158 Mya — about 1 occurrence158–156 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences156–154 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences154–152 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences152–150 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences150–148 Mya — about 2 occurrences148–146 Mya — about 3 occurrences146–145 Mya — about 3 occurrences145–143 Mya — about 2 occurrences143–141 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences141–139 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences139–137 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences120–118 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences118–116 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences116–114 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences114–112 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences161.5 Mya119.57 Mya169 Mya112 Mya

24 occurrences of Mamenchisaurus on record, most of them in the Late Jurassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

24 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Shaximiao — 28.70°N, 104.52°EShaximiao — 28.83°N, 104.13°EShaximiao — 32.37°N, 106.90°EShaximiao — 30.10°N, 103.80°EShaximiao — 29.41°N, 104.77°EShaximiao — 29.48°N, 104.37°EUlan Malgait — 44.13°N, 95.79°EXiangtang — 36.34°N, 102.85°EXiangtang — 36.34°N, 102.82°EPhu Kradung — 16.27°N, 104.43°EPhu Kradung — 16.40°N, 104.28°EShishugou — 44.80°N, 90.05°EDariv — 46.35°N, 94.12°EPenglaizhen — 30.15°N, 105.30°ESuining — 30.15°N, 105.30°EUpper Shaximiao — 30.18°N, 106.21°E

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The named rock units Mamenchisaurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mamenchisaurus and its relatives

Late Jurassic

Where Mamenchisaurus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

20 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 23 sites for Mamenchisaurus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

16 references

Each of the 24 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 4 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Mamenchisaurus

Credit
Zhangzhugang
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMamenchisauridae through timeFormations of the Late JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Young 1954