Re: Details on Huaibasaurus

["Timothy Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Mickey Mortimer wrote:

> Finally, the description of Mamenchisaurus youngi was also sent (and is 
> also
> in Chinese).  The skeleton is complete except for some dorsal ribs, [snip]

Wow!  Do you have the complete reference for this paper?  (If it was 
mentioned before, I missed it.)

>  The skull is very well preserved and similar to
> Euhelopus.

Do the authors comment on the affinities of _Mamenchisaurus_?   (I know the 
paper is in Chinese - but do they have a cladogram or anything?)
There are two very different view on the relationships of _Mamenchisaurus_ 
vs _Euhelopus_.   One view (Upchurch) is that the two (and _Omeisaurus_) 
belong to a monophyletic family near the base of the Eusauropoda.
The other view (Wilson + Sereno) is that the two are not closely related: 
_Euhelopus_ is a derived titanosauriform, and _Mamenchisaurus_ is probably a 
far more basal form (consistent with Upchurch's analysis).


Tim


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