Sauropods are dinosaurs known for their towering long necks and massive bodies, and in a new study, scientists have found a sauropod with the longest neck of them all.
According to estimates from Stony Brook researcher Andrew J. Moore and his team’s analysis published in the journal Journal of Systematic Paleontology. This is the longest neck discovered on any dinosaur – or any animal – yet, comparable to the height of a four-story building or eight stacked giraffe necks. together.
Mamenchisaurus at the research center was first discovered in 1987 from 162-million-year-old rocks in northwest China. Due to the partial nature of the remains, Moore and his team reconstructed the evolutionary relationships of Mamenchiasaurus and possibly used close relatives, such as the Xinjiang titan shanshanesis (a preserved ancient specimen) very well managed), to estimate the neck length of Mamenchiasaurus.
“By using these more complete but smaller specimens, we were able to scale up and give an accurate estimate of what Mamenchisaurus would have looked like,” says Moore. New York Times. Drafting methods to Life ScienceMoore added, “Our analyzes lead us to be fairly confident that Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum has 18 cervical vertebrae, because close relatives known from more complete skeletons all have 18 cervical vertebrae. So, focusing only on these close relatives with similar necks, we scaled up.”
Moore and his team also looked at how Mamenchisaurus was able to support such a long neck and large body. They did CT scans of the vertebrae and found that the interior contained air sacs—something similar to modern birds—making Mamenchisaurus’ backbone lighter in density and load more bearable. .
It’s not exactly certain why Mamenchisaurus evolved to have such a long neck, but Moore speculates that it may have helped them forage more efficiently and also helped them release excess heat from their large bodies.
“Mamenchisaurids are important because they have surpassed the limit of neck length and are the first sauropod to do so,” says Moore. Museum of Natural History. “With its 15-meter neck, it looks like Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum could be the record holder – at least until something longer is discovered.”
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