Mamenchisauridae is a family of sauropoddinosaurs known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa.
Classification
The family Mamenchisauridae was first erected by Chinese paleontologists Yang Zhongjian ("C.C. Young") and Zhao Xijin in 1972, in a paper describing Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis.[2] Other members of Mamenchisauridae include Chuanjiesaurus, Datousaurus, Eomamenchisaurus, Huangshanlong, Hudiesaurus, Klamelisaurus, Qijianglong, Tienshanosaurus, Omeisaurus, Tonganosaurus, Wamweracaudia, Xinjiangtitan, Yuanmousaurus, Zigongosaurus.
Paleobiology
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.[3]
Paleoecology
Fossils of Mamenchisaurus and Omeisaurushave been found in the Shaximiao Formation, dating to the Oxfordian-Tithonian interval, around 159-150 Ma (million years ago). Chuanjiesaurus fossils date between 166.1-163.5 Ma, while those of Eomamenchisauruswere found in the Zhanghe Formation, believed to be around 175.6-161.2 million years old.[4] Fossils of Tonganosaurus date to even earlier, from the (Pliensbachian) Early Jurassic.[5] The Tendaguru taxon Wamweracaudia extends the geographic distribution of Mamenchisauridae into Africa,[6] while fossil remains from the Itat Formation suggest they also reached Siberia.[7] Additionally, an indeterminate cervical vertebra from the Phu Kradung Formation of Thailand demonstrates survival of Mamenchisauridae into the Cretaceous combined with new radiometric dates for the Suining Formation that has yielded fossils of Mamenchisaurus anyuensis.[8][9]
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