Mamenchisaurus constructus
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(mah-munch-ih-sor-uhss)
"Mamenchi lizard"
Describer Young, 1954
Also Known As --
Type of Species constructus
Order Saurischia
SubOrder Sauropodomorpha
InfraOrder Sauropoda
Micro-Order --
Family Mamenchisauridae
Size 82 feet(25 meters) long
Period Late Jurassic, about 160 million years ago
Fossilsite Asia
Diet Herbivore
Species
Mamenchisaurus constructus Young, 1954
Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis Young & Zhao, 1972
Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum Russell & Zheng, 1994
Mamenchisaurus youngi Pi, Ouyang & Ye, 1996
Mamenchisaurus anyuensis He et al., 1996
Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis Zhang, Li & Zeng, 1998
Mamenchisaurus lived during the Late Jurassic Period about 160 million years ago, in what is now Asia. Mamenchisaurus has the longest neck of any animal known to us. Its neck made up for half of its length. It measured about 49 feet long, this spectacular structure was supported by 19 vertebrae. No other dinosaur had this many neck vertebrae. The bone tissue on its vertebrae were specially engineered to keep the bones light in weight, but had the strength to support this long stucture. In some places this vertebrae were thin as egg shells.
Mamenchisaurus held its neck more-or-less horizontally (parallel to the ground). The long neck may have been used to poke into forests to get foliage that was otherwise unavailable to the huge, lumbering varieties of sauropods who could not venture into forests because of their size. Alternatively, the long neck may have enabled this sauropod to eat soft pteridophytes (horsetails, club mosses, and ferns). These soft-leaved plants live in wet areas, where sauropods couldn't venture, but perhaps the sauropod could stand on firm ground and browse in wetlands.
Mamenchisaurus traveled in herds and possibly migrated when they depleted their local food supply. It hatched from eggs, like other sauropods. Sauropod eggs have been found in a linear pattern and not in nests; presumably the eggs were laid as the animal was walking. It is thought that sauropods did not take care of their eggs. Sauropods life spans may have been in the order of 100 years.
Mamenchisaurus neede to consume tremendous amount of plant material each day to sustain itself. It swallowed leaves whole, without chewing them, and may have had gastroliths (stomach stones) in its stomach to help digest this tough plant material. It had blunt teeth, useful for stripping foliage. Its main food was probably conifers, which were the dominant plant when the large sauropods lived. Secondary food sources may have included Gingkos, seed ferns, cycads, bennettitaleans, ferns, club mosses, and horsetails.
