Klamelisaurus
Klamelisaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now China during the Middle Jurassic. It used its very long neck to reach leaves high up in trees, and it was one of the biggest dinosaurs of its time.1
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Fun facts
Klamelisaurus had a neck that was about half of its total body length, measuring around 6.5 metres (21 feet) long.1
Its neck vertebrae had unique bony ridges and deep holes (foramina) on one side, which are not seen in other sauropods.1
The type specimen is an adult, shown by fused bones in its spine and shoulder.1
Klamelisaurus lived in a seasonally wet environment with alluvial plains or marshes, alongside tree ferns and horsetails.1
Some scientists once thought Klamelisaurus was just the adult version of another dinosaur called Bellusaurus, but newer studies show they are different animals.1
Klamelisaurus had five fused hip vertebrae and more than 60 tail vertebrae.2
Most asked questions about Klamelisaurus
?How big was Klamelisaurus?
Klamelisaurus was about 13 metres (43 feet) long and weighed around 6 tonnes (6.6 short tons). That's as long as a big bus and as heavy as a large elephant.1
?What did Klamelisaurus eat?
Klamelisaurus was a plant-eater. It used its very long neck to reach leaves high up in trees, like the Araucaria trees that grew in its environment.1
?When did Klamelisaurus live?
Klamelisaurus lived during the Middle Jurassic, about 162 million years ago. That's long before the famous T. rex appeared.1
?Is Klamelisaurus a dinosaur?
Yes, Klamelisaurus is a dinosaur. It is a sauropod, a type of long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Klamelisaurus is the same dinosaur as Bellusaurus, just grown up.
Truth: Scientists now know they are different species because Klamelisaurus has unique features in its vertebrae and lived earlier, in the Middle Jurassic.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Klamelisaurus
- Named by
- Zhao 19933
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Mamenchisauridae3
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda3
- Age of the rocks
- 165 to 162 million years (Callovian)3
- Rock formations
- Shishugou3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Klamelisaurus was named by Chinese paleontologist Zhao Xijin in 1993, based on a partial skeleton found in 1982 near the abandoned town of Jiangjunmiao in Xinjiang, China.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly how many neck vertebrae Klamelisaurus had, with estimates ranging from 15 to 17.1
Where the facts come from
- Klamelisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- A new Middle Jurassic sauropod subfamily (Klamelisaurinae subfam. nov.) from Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China (naturalhistory.si.edu)
- Klamelisaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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