Dinosaurs - Omeisaurus tianfuensis

Updated

25/11/20
Read time

2 minutes

Omeisaurus — Image: James Reece
© Australian Museum

Fast Facts

Classification

Family

Euhelopodidae
Feeding Habits

herbivore

Introduction

Omeisaurus tianfuensis was a long-necked herbivorous dinosaur that lived in herds around 168-163 million years ago.

It likely had a very large appetite (like other sauropods), possibly consuming up to one tonne of plants each day.

Identification

Omeisaurus tianfuensis had:

a very long neck that helped it to grasp foliage;
a rounded body, giving it a small surface area compared to its volume. This helped it to keep warm by reducing heat loss.

Fossils description

Omeisaurus tianfuensis was named after Mount Emeishan, where the original fossil was found.

Evolutionary relationships

Omeisaurus tianfuensis was a sauropod belonging to the Chinese family Euhelopodidae, a group of massive dinosaurs that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.