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Mamenchisaurus

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Dinosaurs

                 iMamenchisaurus

                             Conservation status

   Extinct (fossil)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom:    Animalia
   Phylum:     Chordata
   Class:      Sauropsida
   Superorder: Dinosauria
   Order:      Saurischia
   Suborder:   Sauropodomorpha
   Infraorder: Sauropoda
   Family:     Euhelopodidae
   Genus:      Mamenchisaurus
               Young (1954)

   Mamenchisaurus (pronounced mah-MEN-chee-SAW-rus; IPA:
   [maˌməntʃɪˈsɔːrəs]) was a plant-eating four-legged dinosaur, known for
   its remarkably long neck. Most species lived 145 to 150 million years
   ago, in the Tithonian age of the late Jurassic Period.

Discoveries

   Mamenchisaurus, Field Museum
   Enlarge
   Mamenchisaurus, Field Museum

   Mamenchisaurus was first discovered in 1952 on a highway construction
   site in Sichuan, China. The partial skeleton fossil was then studied,
   and named in 1954, by the renowned Chinese paleontologist Professor C.
   C. Young.

   The first specimen discovered (the type specimen) was 22 meters (72
   feet) long and half of that was neck (11 meters, or 36 feet), which
   made it the longest known neck of any animal at the time. 19 vertebrae
   were discovered (another record), along with long rods that were found
   in the neck. It is thought that adults could average up to 82 ft. long.

   In 1987, a different species of Mamenchisaurus was discovered (M.
   hochuanensis) with a neck that might have reached up to 15 meters (49
   feet) in length. In 1994, the Sauroposeidon was discovered in the
   United States, with a neck estimated to be up to 12 meters (39 feet)
   long, although, since the Sauroposeidon is a brachiosaurid, with very
   long forelimbs, it is a much taller dinosaur.

Naming

   Mamenchisaurus Rising, Field Museum, 2005
   Enlarge
   Mamenchisaurus Rising, Field Museum, 2005
   Mamenchisaurus with Boy in Blue, Field Museum, 2005
   Enlarge
   Mamenchisaurus with Boy in Blue, Field Museum, 2005

   Mamenchisaurus means 'Mamenchi lizard', from the Chinese Pinyin mǎ (马
   'horse') and mén (门 'gate'), while chi is a transliteration of xī (溪
   'stream' or 'brook'), combined with the suffix -saurus (from Greek
   sauros meaning 'lizard').

   It was intended to name the reptile after the place where its fossil
   was first found — a construction site next to the Mǎmíngxī (马鸣溪) Ferry
   Crossing by the Jinsha River (金沙江, the westernmost major headwater
   stream of the Yangtze River), near Yibin (宜宾) in Sichuan Province of
   China. However, due to an accentual mix-up by Young, the location name
   Mǎmíngxī (马鸣溪 'horse-neighing brook') was mistaken as Mǎménxī (马门溪
   'horse-gate brook').

   The fact that the first Mamenchisaurus fossil was excavated from a
   construction site led to Young's naming the type species as
   Mamenchisaurus constructus.

Species

     * M. anyuensis He, Yang, Cai, Li & Liu, 1996
     * M. constructus Young, 1954: ( Type species) The holotype specimen,
       represented by a partial skeleton.
     * M. fuxiensis Hou, Zhao & Chu, 1976: Partial skeleton, include parts
       of a skull.
     * M. hochuanensis Young & Zhao, 1972: Four partial skeletons.
     * M. sinocanadorum D. Russell & Zheng, 1994: Partial skull, isolated
       bones. It may have been the largest, up to 26 meters (85 feet) in
       length.
     * M. youngi Pi, Ouyang & Ye, 1996: Mamenchisaurus youngi
       (pronunciation YOUNG-eye) was unearthed in Xinmin County, Zigong
       City in Sichuan Province, China, in 1989. The fossil specimen, 16
       meters long with a 6.5-meter neck, is relatively small among
       various species of Mamenchisaurus. The species was named in honour
       of Young.

Popular Culture

     * Mamenchisaurs were featured in the roundup scene in Jurassic Park's
       sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

     * A Mamenchisaurus featured in a travelling Dinosaurs from China
       which toured Australia in 2002.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamenchisaurus"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
