STL Science Center

STL Science Center

25 January 2014

That Neck

He et al. (1988:fig. 63)
The neck of Omeisaurus was distinctively longer than most sauropods but it is still shorter than the Chinese sauropod Mamenchisaurus. Despite the multitude of species in the genus, they are all fairly uniform in their dimensions with a very long neck, shortened tail (compared to many sauropods), and a robust abdominal area. As with many other sauropods, the head of Omeisaurus is very small and packed with vegetation cropping teeth. How that nutritional goodness made it down the extended trachea and through the digestive tract can be speculated upon and hypothesized. However, it is a unique feature that calls attention to the dinosaur and singles it out in a crowd of other sauropods.

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