It’s no secret that sauropods, a group of giant dinosaurs that included the famous Brachiosaurus, had very long necks, but paleontologists now claim to have identified the species that will take the crown. The Mamenchisaurus had the longest neck of any known animal, at about 50 feet (over 15 m), according to the researchers.
Mamenchisaurus Sinocanadorum First discovered in China in 1987, its origins date back to the late Jurassic period, about 162 million years ago. The species had a body plan familiar to most sauropods: a huge, stocky barrel of the body supported by four huge elephant-like legs, with a long neck at one end and It was counterbalanced by an equally long tail. In other words, it was. Jurassic ParkDr. Alan Grant, “Like a big cow.”
But pinpointing exactly which sauropod had the longest neck is more difficult than expected. This is because complete skeletons of these dinosaurs are hard to come by. After all, it would take a grave the size of an apartment building to completely bury him one of these giants fast enough to support fossilization.
In a new study, researchers at Stony Brook University, the London Natural History Museum, Yunnan University, and the Zigong Dinosaur Museum explored the evolutionary history of mamenchisaurids. This involved comparing their bones to those of related species with much more complete skeletons and using that data to infer the dimensions of these animals.
Director of the Natural History Museum
In doing so, the team concluded: Mamenchisaurus Sinocanadorum It had a neck that stretched for about 15.1 meters (49.5 ft) in length. This is six times his length for a giraffe with the longest neck of any living animal, and the previous record holder, a dinosaur called Sauroposeidon, had a neck length of 12 m. (39 feet). .
“Mamenchisaurids are important because they pushed the limits of neck length and were the first lineage of such sauropods,” said Dr. Andrew Moore, lead author of the study. . “If you have a neck length of 15 meters, it’s like Mamenchisaurus Sinocanadorum It may become the record holder, at least until a longer one is discovered. ”
The team also found evidence of how dinosaurs could stand on their own without collapsing under their own weight. CT scans of the vertebrae revealed that the bones are mostly hollow, with up to 77% of their volume being made up of air. This would have made it relatively lighter, using the same lightening mechanisms as modern bird skeletons. To prevent injury, the neck bones were reinforced by 4 m (13 ft) long bars projecting from the vertebrae forming bundles along each side of the neck.
This research systematic paleontology journal.
Source: Natural History Museum, London
