Mamenchisaurus tail club

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

I've been going over some recent new references and have come across this 
one, which I don't recall being mentioned on the list before (maybe the 
messages were AOL-blocked?):

Ye Yong, Ouyang Hui & Fu Qian-Ming, 2001. "New material of _Mamenchisaurus 
hochuanensis_ from Zigong, Sichuan," _Vertebrata PalAsiatica 39_(4): 266-271 
[October 2001; in Chinese with Engllish abstract].

The authors describe a new partial skeleton (ZDM0126) referable to the long 
sauropod _Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis_ that fills in some of the areas 
missing from the holotype skeleton. There is , for example, quite a lot of 
cranial material. In particular, they report a tail-club-like fusion of the 
posterior caudals along with a concomitant elevation of their neural arches: 
"The new materials show that the posterior caudals are fused with each other 
and are expanded and cockscomb-shaped, which differ distinctly from the 
hammer-shaped tail of _Shunosaurus_ and _Omeisaurus_. We suggest that its 
posterior caudals have two main functions: it serves not only as a defensive 
weapon, but also as an acute sense organ." (From the English abstract.)

The paper also carries this reference in the bibliography:

Zhang Y H, Li K & Zeng Q H, 1998. "A new species of sauropod dinosaur from 
the Upper Jurassic of Sichuan Basin, China," _J. Chengdu Univ of Technol 
25_(1): 61-68 [in Chinese with English summary].

This seems to be where the species _Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis_ is 
described. But I have a 1996 date for that species; it's rather well figured 
in the article by Zhang and Chen in Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 60, 
although the reference to its description by "Zhang & Li, 1996" is missing 
from their bibliography. So what gives? 1996 or 1998?

If that isn't wacky enough, the following article

Zhang Yuguang & Li Jianjun, 2001. "A study on new materials of 
_Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis_," in Deng Tao & Wang Yuan, eds., _Proceedings 
of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Vertebrate 
Paleontology_, China Ocean Press, Beijing: 35-39 [in Chinese with English 
summary].

notes: "In 1997, another new species of _Mamenchisaurus_ was found in 
Jingyan, Sichuan Province. _Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis_ developed in Sichuan 
Basin in the early part of the Late Jurassic. ..." This clearly indicates 
that Mj hadn't yet been found in 1996. Typo? Anyone have anything more 
definite on this species?