Eomamenchisaurus
"dawn Mamenchisaurus"
Type species Eomamenchisaurus yuanmouensis
- Lived
- 175 to 162 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods, Mamenchisauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Lü et al. 2008
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
170 million years ago
Habitat
It probably browsed on land around lakes in what is now China. Yuanmousaurus, Nebulasaurus and Yuanmouraptor occur in the same formation.
Field notes
About Eomamenchisaurus
What it was like
Eomamenchisaurus was a long-necked, four-legged plant eater, an early relative of Mamenchisaurus. It is known from part of a skeleton.
Its world
It lived in the Middle Jurassic in what is now southwestern China. Its bones come from the Zhanghe Formation, where it shared the land with the hunter Yuanmouraptor and other long-necked plant eaters such as Yuanmousaurus.
How it was found
Lü and colleagues named Eomamenchisaurus in 2008, from a single find.
Field gallery
More views of Eomamenchisaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Eomamenchisaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Eomamenchisaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- An incomplete skeleton preserves parts of the backbone, pelvis and hind legs, including a rod-like shaft on one hip bone.
- Neighboring vertebrae near the rear of the back are fused together.
- Its back vertebrae lack the deep side hollows found in many other sauropods.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head and much of the neck are restored by comparison with Mamenchisaurus and other long-necked relatives.
- The fused back vertebrae resemble those of Mamenchisaurus and Chuanjiesaurus.
Still unknown
- The length and proportions of its complete neck.
- The shape of its skull.
- Experts disagree on whether it can be told apart from Yuanmousaurus, found in the same rocks.
Discovery timeline
- 2008Named itLü et al.
- 2013Family treeXing
- 2025Same rocksZou et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Eomamenchisaurus
Named it
Described the incomplete skeleton and linked it to Mamenchisaurus through fused vertebrae near the rear of the back.
A new mamenchisaurid dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 82: 17-26
No link available
Family tree
Named Nebulasaurus from the same rocks and found that Eomamenchisaurus and Yuanmousaurus are hard to tell apart without restudy.
A new basal eusauropod from the Middle Jurassic of Yunnan, China, and faunal compositions and transitions of Asian sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
Read the paper : A new basal eusauropod from the Middle Jurassic of Yunnan, China, and faunal compositions and transitions of Asian sauropodomorph dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Described Yuanmouraptor from a skull and neck vertebrae, adding a large predatory dinosaur to the fauna of the same formation.
A new metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China. PeerJ 13: e19218
Read the paper : A new metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Mamenchisauridae
Sources: Wikidata