Archaeologists from various countries have discovered that the dinosaur Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorumwho lived in China does 162 million yearshad the longer neck that is known
The previous record was held by the Xinjiang titan shanshanesisanother Chinese dinosaur of which an almost complete neck of 13.4 meters has been found.
However, fairly accurate estimates have calculated that the Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum found had a neck of 15,1 metros, according to Allthatsinteresting account. That equates to 8 giraffe necks placed one behind the other.
We say estimates, because of the Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum only a few neck vertebrae, a mandible, and a long neck bone have been found, as you can see here:
But extrapolating the size of the bones found from the Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis, to those of the Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorumit has been determined that the latter measured more than one meter more.
It is not yet known exactly why these sauropods They had such a long neck, but it is estimated that, like giraffes, they used it to eat leaves from tall treesunattainable for other herbivores.
What fascinates archaeologists and biologists is how could they move a neck of more than 15 meters. The longer an appendage is, the harder it is to keep it stretched. Just take a hammer or a liter bottle, stretch your arm, and try to hold it straight for a while: you won’t last long.
As far as you have an appendage of the center of gravity of your body, more difficult to move and lift. And these dinosaurs had their heads 15 meters from their bodies!
Studying neck boneshave discovered that they were very porous and light: 70% of its composition is hollow. It is also known that they had air sacs that were filling up and passing the air from one to the other, to help the lungs carry oxygen to the head.
Unfortunately, the bigger a dinosaur is, the more difficult it is to find a complete skeletonbecause being so huge they end up being dragged by some current or landslide, during fossilization.
With a length of 15,1 metroshe dinosaur Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum is the animal with longer neck never found. But just as the record has been broken several times, nothing prevents it from happening again in the future. New species of dinosaur are continually being discovered.
