Saturday, December 19, 2015

The Giving of December. Omeisaurus

 With its incredibly long neck Omeisaurus is both a relative and possible comtempory to the more famous Mamenchisaurus.‭ ‬However previous Upper Shaximiao Formation fossils of Omeisaurus are now considered indeterminate.‭ ‬If Omeisaurus really‭ ‬does‭ ‬only exist in Lower Shaximiao deposits,‭ ‬then it may confirm that Mamenchisaurus replaced Omeisaurus since the former is only known from the later Upper Shaximiao.‭ ‬The large number of individual Omeisaurus recovered indicates that it was a successful design that was well suited to its environment.
       Other sauropod dinosaurs active at the same time and location as Omeisaurus include Abrosaurus,‭ ‬Dashanpusaurus and the clubbed tail Shunosaurus.‭ ‬Other herbivorous dinosaurs in the same time period and general area include the stegosaur Huayangosaurus and the small bipedal ornithischian Agilisaurus.‭ ‬Numerous predatory dinosaurs also roamed the landscapes and these include Chuandongocoelurus,‭ ‬Kaijiangosaurus,‭ ‬Gasosaurus,‭ ‬Leshansaurus,‭ ‬Xuanhanosaurus and Yangchuanosaurus.‭ ‬The last one in particular is important to Omeisaurus since it could attain sizes where it would have been a serious threat to smaller Omeisaurus,‭ ‬and still dangerous enough to worry larger individuals.

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