Mamenchisaurus sanjiangensis strolled our world throughout the Early Oxfordian age of the Jurassic duration, some 160 million years back.

This dinosaur was a diverged mamenchisaurid, shares a reasonably near relationship with the majority of other Mamenchisaurus types.

“Sauropod dinosaur variety reached an evident peak in the Late Jurassic, consisted of numerous large geographically dispersed non-neosauropodan eusauropod family trees (e.g., mamenchisaurids, turiasaurians), and mostly of a broad selection of near-globally dispersed members of neosauropodan clades (Diplodocoidea and Macronaria),” stated Dr. Hui Dai, a paleontologist at the Chongqing Institute of Paleontology and the Chongqing Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Paleoenvironment Co-evolution, and coworkers.

“The Late Jurassic sedimentary systems of China protect abundant sauropod records, and the majority of them are controlled by mamenchisaurids, although the specific neosauropodan remains are commonly acknowledged from early Middle Jurassic.”

“The supremacy of Asian sauropod animals is rather various from that of synchronous European and North and South American Formations.”

“Moreover, the majority of the Late Jurassic Asian sauropod variety originates from the deposits designated to the lower parts, especially near the Middle-Late Jurassic shift duration.”

The single partial skeleton of Mamenchisaurus sanjiangensis was uncovered at the fossil website of Chongqing in southwest China.

“The remains were discovered in purplish-red silty mudstones near the middle part of the Upper Shaximiao Formation,” the paleontologists stated.

“Traditionally, a basic Callovian-Oxfordian age was presumed for this development, whereas the specific age for this development is still questionable.”

The discovery of Mamenchisaurus sanjiangensis enhances the variety of the early diverging sauropod dinosaurs and supplies extra details to assist comprehend the evolutionary history of sauropods in northwest China.

“A refined understanding of the evolutionary relationships of Middle-Late Jurassic Chinese eusauropods concerns checking hypotheses worrying the seclusion of East Asia from western Laurasia and Gondwana at this time and the paleobiogeographical history of early branching sauropods and eusauropods more broadly,” the scientists stated.

“However, our understanding of this evolutionary phase is far from total, and reexamination of specimens is required for East Asian family trees to fill the ‘spaces’.”

The research study was released on November 25, 2025 in the journal Scientific Reports

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H. Dai et alA brand-new mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Southwest China exposes brand-new evolutionary proof from East Asian eusauropods. Sci Repreleased online November 25, 2025; doi: 10.1038/ s41598-025-29995-z