Mamenchisauridae

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.[4] Other mamenchisaurids may include 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.[5] Fossils of Tonganosaurus date to even earlier, from the Early Jurassic.[6]

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 unnamed mamenchisaurid SGP 2006/9 weighed 25,075 kilograms (27.6 short tons) , reached sexual maturity at 20 years and died at age 31.[7]

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. ↑ Jian-Dong Huang, Hai-Lu You, Jing-Tao Yang and Xin-Xin Ren (2014). "A new sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Huangshan, Anhui Province" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica 52 (4): 390–400.
  3. ↑ Qijianglong guokr: New Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered in China
  4. ↑ Young, C.C. and Zhao, X. (1972). "Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis sp. nov.". Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology Monographs Series A 8: 1-30.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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).
  7. ↑ 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