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Yunnanosaurus
Discovered in the Yunnan Province of China in 1942 by Yang Zhongjian, the Yunnanosaurus was one of the very last Prosauropods to walk the earth. This voracious herbivore lived during the Jurassic Period and consumed a large variety of different plants to support its massive thirteen hundred pound frame. Yunnanosaurus is a species that contained dinosaurs that varied greatly in size from one another. The smaller members of the species were twenty-three feet long and seven feet high, while the largest members of the species were over forty-two feet long and fourteen feet high. This dinosaur also had a neck that was extremely long for its length and was used to eat the leaves off of taller trees.
Yunnanosaurus is most widely known for its unique set of teeth which looked much like spoons and helped this animal to consume a large quantity of plant material. In fact, this animal ate so many plants that it would wear its teeth down on a daily basis. Fortunately for the Yunnanosaurus, it was one of the few dinosaurs that had self-sharpening teeth. These unusual teeth are very different from the teeth that other Prosauropods had and bore a greater resemblance to its distant cousins, the Sauropods. Scientist believe this occurred because the teeth of Yunnanosaurus evolved separately from its body in a process known as convergent evolution.
Since the original discovery of Yunnanosaurus in 1942, several other specimens have been found. The second specimen was found in 1951 and scientists originally believed this one to be a separate species. This was later proven to belong to the same species and was merely a juvenile. Over the years the bones of several Yunnanosaurus have been discovered with the last one being unearthed in 2007. To date, scientists have unearthed over twenty skeletons of this species. Some of these are only partial skeletons, but quite a few of them are complete and in very good shape. Scientist have devoted a large amount of time to figure out as much as they can about this species. The scientific community continues to devote its time and resources to unlock the secrets of the Yunnanosaurus so that we can learn more about this fascinating species of dinosaurs.
Discovered: 1942
Weight: 2 tons
Region: China
Diet: Herbivore
Height: 14 feet
Length:42 feet