Mamenchisaurus was first discovered in 1952 in Sichuan, China, and was named by Chung Chien Young. It had the longest neck of all known dinosaurs except the newly found Sauroposeidon, which occupies half of its entire body. Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis belonged to the Chinese family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamenchisaurus lived about 160 to 145 million years ago in the Late Jurassic period, when the Earth was very warm, sea level was high and there was no polar ice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamenchisaurus was one of the few dinosaurs that took it to the extreme; it had 19 vertebrae in its neck to sweep its neck across a wide area of vegetation without having to walk to continually find new areas physically. Mamenchisaurus was a herbivore and ate a tremendous amount of plant material each day to sustain itself. It had blunt teeth, useful for stripping plants such as pteridophytes, horsetails, club mosses, and ferns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamenchisaurus had been traveling in herds and migrated when its local food supply was depleted. It reproduced by laying eggs. Studies show that this dinosaur never cared for its babies, or even guarded its eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mamenchisaurus had two brains, and the second one has only an enlargement of the spinal cord in the hip area larger than the animal's small brain. It moved slowly on all fours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Gregory S. Paul, it may have reached 35 m in length and possibly weighed 60-80 tons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n