Omnisaura

Dinosaur genus

Omeisaurus

Young 1939

Omeisaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 174.7–143.1 million years old, in China.

Confidence labels
How sure are we?2 high8 medium1 lowHow we rate confidence

Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.

At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026
174.7–143.1 Ma
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114366

The last non-bird dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. That's as far from us as the end of this bar.

Named by
Young 1939
highhigh: PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Described in
C.-C. Young (1939). On a new Sauropoda, with notes on other fragmentary reptiles from Szechuan. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 19(3): 279–315. Read it
highhigh: PBDB gives this publication for the name; its author and year match the naming authority (Young 1939), on which PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.

Lived
Aalenian to Tithonian, 174.7–143.1 million years ago
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation174.7–143.1 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
mediummedium: Omnisaura's calculation from 10 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Fossils found in
China
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (10 records).
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).

Rock formations
Shaximiao
mediummedium: Only PBDB records it (9 records).
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.

Family
Mamenchisauridae
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Parent group
Mamenchisauridae
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.

Named after
Mount Emei
mediummedium: Only Wikidata gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources

Given by: Wikidata. How it was chosen: Wikidata leads.

Species named in its records
Omeisaurus changshouensis, Omeisaurus fuxiensis, Omeisaurus jiaoi, Omeisaurus junghsiensis, Omeisaurus luoquanensis, Omeisaurus maoianus, Omeisaurus puxiani, Omeisaurus tianfuensis
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).

Diet
herbivore (inferred for its group)
mediummedium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Sauropoda, the group this genus belongs to, not from this genus's own fossils.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.

Way of life
ground dwelling, gregarious (inferred for its group)
lowlow: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Sauropoda; behaviour is rarely known for one genus.
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.

Known from
Bones
Sources

Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).

Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0), Wikidata (CC0 1.0)Confidence levels and gaps are Omnisaura's own assessment.

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

  • Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Order: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
  • Held back: 3 fossil records left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf.", "?" or the name in quotation marks).
  • Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): parent group (PBDB); family (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB); named after (Wikidata); diet (PBDB).

Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.

Where sources disagree

None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.

Did it meet…?

?

No. Omeisaurus had gone at least 59.5 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record.

Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.

Connections

Genera linked to Omeisaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

OmeisaurusSame rocks, same timeSame familySame naming authorAlso found in ChinaMamenchisaurusShunosaurusChungkingosaurusDatousaurusand 12 moreAbrosaurusAnalongAnhuilongBellusaurusand 5 moreChangpeipusLufengosaurusSanpasaurusSinosaurusand 5 moreGrallatorEubrontesAnchiornisTienshanosaurusand 36 more

Same family: Mamenchisauridae 9

Other genera in Mamenchisauridae with a full profile.

AbrosaurusAnalongAnhuilongBellusaurusChuanjiesaurusDaanosaurusMamenchisaurusTienshanosaurusWamweracaudia

Named by Young 9

Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.

ChangpeipusLufengosaurusMamenchisaurusSanpasaurusSinosaurusTienshanosaurusTsintaosaurusYangtzepusYunnanosaurus

Credits

Where this page comes from

  • Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
  • WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
  • OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
  • PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
  • Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines

Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.