Giant Giraffa camelopardalis walked the Jurassic in the anatomy of prospicient - neckedTitanosaursandSauropods , but among them was one species to out - make out them all . A new fossil analysis has crown the Formosan sauropodMamenchisaurus sinocanadorumas the longest - known neck in the animal kingdom , stretch to a whopping 15.1 meters ( 49.5 feet ) .
The biggest dinosaur are n’t always the easiest to study as they incline to get bear on in the fossil phonograph recording as parts , rather than the whole brute . This means identify the longest - necked sauropod dinosaur has been tricky since most of the clock time investigator are do work from a very incomplete puzzle .
Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorumis a honest lesson , known only from a handful of bones from the neck opening and skull . However , by analyze its family line tree an external research team could employ its evolutionary human relationship to liken morphologies against frame and settle on the most likely body program . Doing so led to the conclusion thatM. sinocanadorumhad a neck approximately 15.1 meters long .
Researchers only had a few fossils to work from, but were able to piece together the neck morphology of M. sinocanadorum by studying its evolutionary relationships. Image credit: Trustees of the Natural History Museum
It makes it the longest neck of any known sauropod dinosaur , and perhaps the longest of any animal ever to walk the Earth .
“ All sauropods were heavy , but jaw - droppingly long necks did n’t develop just once , ” said wind author and palaeontologist Dr Andrew J Moore of Stony Brook University in a statement sent to IFLScience .
“ Mamenchisauridsare important because they campaign the limits on how long a neck can be and were the first pedigree of sauropod to do so . With a 15 - metre - foresighted neck , it expect likeMamenchisaurus sinocanadorummight be a record - bearer – at least until something longer is discover . ”
The lower jaw and two of the vertebrae ofMamenchisaurus sinocanadorumlinked together. Image credit: Trustees of the Natural History Museum
With a neck longer than a double - decker bus , M. sinocanadorumwould have been capable to access resource that were out of reach to other specie . Doing so helped them get boastful and strong , but hold up 15 meters of neck would have been almost impossible were it not for a nifty adaptation .
“ Like all other sauropod dinosaur , Mamenchisaurushad a complex external respiration apparatus that included not only the lung , but also numerousballoon - similar strain sack , ” explained Professor Paul Barrett , Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum London , explains . “ These were get in touch to the lungs and windpipe but propagate throughout the inside of the creature ’s cervix , chest , and abdomen . "
A memorable scene in Apple TV’sPrehistoric Planetvisualized these peculiar sacs , an adaptation that ’s known as cervical pneumaticity . Effectively breathing into your osseous tissue would ’ve made holding up gargantuan cervix wanton , but it may have come with its downside if thesedinosaurs caught a common cold .
The long neck does n’t make for the crowing dinosaur , however . That title still belong to the colossal titanosaurPatagotitan mayorum , a mintage about to go on exhibit in the Natural History Museum London ’s new exhibition , Titanosaur : Life As The boastful Dinosaur .
We ’ll have more on this in the coming week , so keep your peeper peeled . Something great is come …
The study is published in theJournal of Systematic Palaeontology .
