Mamenchisauridae

Mamenchisauridae Temporal range: Early-Late Jurassic, 180–155 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder:	Sauropoda
Family:	Mamenchisauridae Young and Chao, 1972
Genera
Bellusaurus Chuanjiesaurus Eomamenchisaurus Hudiesaurus Klamelisaurus Mamenchisaurus Omeisaurus Tonganosaurus

Mamenchisauridae is an extinct family of sauropod dinosaurs. The family was first named by Chinese paleontologists C.C. Young and H.C. Chao in 1972, in a paper describing Mamenchisaurus.^[1] Other mamenchisaurids may include Bellusaurus, Chuanjiesaurus, Eomamenchisaurus, Hudiesaurus, Klamelisaurus, Omeisaurus, and Tonganosaurus. Fossils of Mamenchisaurus and Omeisaurus have been found in the Shangshaximiao Formation, dating to the Oxfordian stage, around 161.2-155.7 Ma (million years ago). Chuanjiesaurus fossils date between 175.6-161.2 Ma, while those of Eomamenchisaurus were found in the Zhanghe Formation, believed to be around 175.6-161.2 million years old.^[2] Fossils of Tonganosaurus date to even earlier, from the Early Jurassic.^[3]

References

1. ^ Young, C.C. and Chao, H.C. (1972). "Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis sp. nov.". Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology Monographs Series A 8: 1-30.
2. ^ Lü, J., Li, T., Zhong, S., Ji, Q., and Li, S. (2008). "A new mamenchisaurid dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, China". Acta Geologica Sinica 82(1) :17-26.
3. ^ Li, K., Yang, C.-Y., Liu, J. and Wang, Z.-X. (2010). "A new sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Jyrassic of Huili, Sichuan, China." Vertebrata Palasiatica, (3).

• Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Philip J. Currie and Kevin Padian (page 122)

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