Mamenchisauridae

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Mamenchisauridae
Temporal range: Early-Late Jurassic, 175–155Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Eusauropoda
Family: †Mamenchisauridae
Young and Zhao, 1972
Genera[1]
Synonyms

Omeisauridae Wilson, 2002

Mamenchisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs. The family was first named by Chinese paleontologists C.C. Young and X. Zhao in 1972, in a paper describing Mamenchisaurus.[2] Other mamenchisaurids may include Bellusaurus, Chuanjiesaurus, Eomamenchisaurus, Hudiesaurus, Tienshanosaurus, Omeisaurus, and Tonganosaurus. Fossils of Mamenchisaurus and Omeisaurus have been found in the Shangshaximiao Formation, dating to the Oxfordian stage, around 161.2-155.7 Ma (million years ago). Chuanjiesaurus fossils date between 175.6-161.2 Ma, while those of Eomamenchisaurus were found in the Zhanghe Formation, believed to be around 175.6-161.2 million years old.[3] Fossils of Tonganosaurus date to even earlier, from the Early Jurassic.[4]

Long-bone histology enables researchers to estimate the age that a specific individual reached. A study by Griebeler et al. (2013) examined long bone histological data and concluded that the mamenchisaurid SGP 2006/9 weighed 25,075 kilograms (27.6 short tons), reached sexual maturity at 20 years and died at age 31.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2011 Appendix.
  2. ↑ Young, C.C. and Zhao, X. (1972). "Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis sp. nov.". Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology Monographs Series A 8: 1-30.
  3. ↑ Lü, J., Li, T., Zhong, S., Ji, Q., and Li, S. (2008). "A new mamenchisaurid dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, China". Acta Geologica Sinica 82(1) :17-26.
  4. ↑ Li, K., Yang, C.-Y., Liu, J. and Wang, Z.-X. (2010). "A new sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Jyrassic of Huili, Sichuan, China." Vertebrata Palasiatica, (3).
  5. ↑ Griebeler EM, Klein N, Sander PM (2013) Aging, Maturation and Growth of Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs as Deduced from Growth Curves Using Long Bone Histological Data: An Assessment of Methodological Constraints and Solutions. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67012. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067012
  • Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Philip J. Currie and Kevin Padian (page 122)
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