A HUGE DINOSAUR that makes a giraffe look small roamed northwest China 160 million years ago, scientists said yesterday.
The massive beast had an enormous neck and would have weighed about 70 tons.
The news came from a new analysis of bones found in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 1987. Scientists realized they were from the skull and neck of a large dinosaur.
The beast has been given the scientific name Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum—and was probably just one of many super-size beasts roaming the area at that time, scientists said.
The discovery was revealed in the latest edition of the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
The long neck would have enabled it to get found food sources while minimizing the need to carry its huge body around too far. While the neck and head parts look too heavy to carry, the creature had hollow bones for lightness, and had even evolved the equivalent of ribs for its neck.
China, Africa, and parts of the United States have proved a treasure trove for scientists searching for dinosaurs.