Tonganosaurus
Tonganosaurus was a long-necked plant-eater that lived about 184 million years ago. It is one of the oldest known members of the mamenchisaurid family, which includes some of the longest-necked dinosaurs ever.12
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as long as 2.5 cars parked in a row🍌as long as 67 bananas end to end🏃could run 100 metres in 19 seconds (the fastest human needs 9.6)How big was Tonganosaurus compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Tonganosaurus had a very long neck for its size, with neck bones shaped like those of Omeisaurus, another long-necked dinosaur.1
Its front legs were 80 percent as long as its back legs, which is a sign it was a more advanced sauropod.2
The thigh bone (femur) was straight and thick, and the shin bone (tibia) was 75 percent of its length.1
It lived in the Early Jurassic, about 184.5 million years ago, making it the oldest known mamenchisaurid by almost 15 million years.1
The only skeleton found was of an adult that was about 12 metres long, the length of a big bus.1
Its backbones (vertebrae) were solid and not hollow, which is a more primitive feature among sauropods.2
The fossils were discovered in 2007 by scientists from Chengdu University of Technology, after tips from local people.1
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- Scientific name
- Tonganosaurus
- Named by
- Li et al. 20103
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Mamenchisauridae3
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda3
- Age of the rocks
- 201 to 175 million years (Hettangian / Toarcian)3
- Rock formations
- Yimen3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Tonganosaurus was named by Li Kui, Yang Chun-Yan, Liu Jian, and Wang Zheng-Xin in 2010. The species name hei honors dinosaur scientist He Xinlu. The fossils were found in the Yimen Formation of Sichuan, China.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating the exact age of the Yimen Formation, so the precise date of Tonganosaurus is not fully settled.1
Where the facts come from
- Tonganosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- A NEW SAUROPOD FROM THE LOWER JURASSIC OF HUILI, SICHUAN, CHINA (vertpala.ac.cn)
- Tonganosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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