With their long necks and formidable bodies, sauropod dinosaurs have captured people’s imagination since the first relatively complete fossils were discovered in the United States in the late 1800s. The original specimen that the Natural History Museum’s Dippy was cast from was among these discoveri
A rendering of the sauropod known as Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum, which had a 15-meter-long neck. Credit: © Júlia d’Oliveira
For sauropods, the long neck was one of the keys to achieving large body size. To power such a large body, sauropods had to be efficient at gathering food, and that’s exactly what a long neck was built for. A sauropod could stand in one spot and graze the surrounding vegetation, conserving energy while taking in tons of food. Having a long neck probably also allowed sauropods to shed excess body heat by increasing their surface area, much like the ears of elephants.
“Mamenchisaurids are important because they pushed the limits on how long a neck can be and were the first lineage of sauropods to do so. With a 15-meter-long neck, it looks likemight be a record-holder – at least until something longer is discovered.” The question of how sauropods managed to evolve such long necks and large bodies without collapsing under their own weight has puzzled scientists since their discovery. When studyingthe team was able to use computed-tomography scanning to reveal that the vertebrae were lightweight and hollow with air spaces comprising about 69–77% of their volume, similar to the lightly built skeletons of birds. However, such featherweight skeletons would also be more prone to injury.
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Longest dinosaur neck ever stretched further than a school bus at 49 feet longBy comparing the few known bones of the sauropod Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum with its relatives, experts have extrapolated its tremendous neck length.
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Longest dinosaur neck on record was six times longer than a giraffe'sWe only have a few fossil bones of Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum, but researchers have estimated its neck length by analysing its vertebrae and comparing them with those from related dinosaurs
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