The Strangest Reptile Ever Found

https://tube.blueben.net/w/9hEC6haWcs2J71sUoHLMAj

First discovered in 2002, paleontologist draw comparisons of #Dinocephalosaurus_orientalis with other aquatic species having no modern day analogs - why did the entire family of #Tanystropheidae or the genera exhibiting these morphological functionalities not continue?

Perhaps just as interesting is the convergent evolution (especially with respect to their necks) between that of Dinocephalosaurus and members of the Tanystropheus genus. A close resemblance on the surface, yet Dinocephalosaurus orientalis was strictly an aquatic species.

I've included an artists reconstructive rendition of Tanystropheus longobardicus for comparison between the two, but note that Dinocephalosaurus had four flipper-like feet of the same size, and unable to exist, or at least thrive in a terrestrial environment, where Tanystropheus exhibited larger feet in the rear - not unlike your hands being smaller than your feet.

And yes, as Yuki (@youronlyone) offers up as a contemplative inference, the whole "Dragon" and "Loch Ness Monster" corollaries are uncanny, raising questions as to why would pre-industrial societies actually have such fables, or in the case of the latter, claims of sightings, if not rooted in some previous observation by humans?

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/23/world/dragon-fossil-240-million-years-old-intl-scli-scn/index.html

Dinocephalosaurus was extant from the late #Paleozoic (late Permian period) through the early #Mesozoic (early Triassic period) eras.

#tallship #Dinocephalosaurus #Triassic #Tanystropheus #Tanystropheus_longobardicus h/t to @youronlyone for bringing the latest news on this matter to me - I'm always fascinated with things related to #marine_biology - especially #Opisthobranchia

⛵️

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RE: https://c.im/users/youronlyone/statuses/111985758251416307

@youronlyone

Dinocephalosaurus was Fully Marine #Reptile and Even Gave Birth at Sea https://www.sci.news/paleontology/dinocephalosaurus-orientalis-12716.html

Dinocephalosaurus orientalis: a remarkable marine #archosauromorph from the Middle #Triassic of southwestern China https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/dinocephalosaurus-orientalis-li-2003-a-remarkable-marine-archosauromorph-from-the-middle-triassic-of-southwestern-china/C7D48539139475EFCAAC35342089ACB8

"#Dinocephalosaurus orientalis lived during the Triassic period, around 240 million years old. This #AquaticReptile was up to 6 m in length and had an extraordinarily long neck with 32 separate vertebrae. The #animal was very similar to #Tanystropheus"

#Triassic #Reptiles with Extraordinarily Long Neck were Decapitated by Predators https://www.sci.news/paleontology/tanystropheus-predators-12015.html

"These aquatic reptiles were up to 6 m (20 feet) long, and had unique necks composed of 13 extremely elongated #vertebrae and strut-like ribs. Consequently, they likely possessed stiffened necks and waited to ambush their prey. But #Tanystropheus’ #predators apparently also took advantage of the long neck for their own gain."

I've despised Jurassic World and everything it stands for since seeing the first film in the cinema in 2015. I haven't given the franchise a penny of my money since... until now. 😩

The bastards have only gone and found my Achilles' heel – plesiosaur toys. Grrr.

#plesiosaurs #plesiosaur #jurassicworld #kronosaurus #liopleurodon #plesiosaurus #nothosaurus #tanystropheus #actionfigures #toys

Output from the #paleoart workshop at this month's #TetZooCon in #London. The brief was to brainstorm behaviors of that lanky #Triassic neckosaurus, #Tanystropheus.

#artadventcalendar #drawing #art #somuchneck

the necks go up
the necks go down
the necks go back and forth
the necks sweep all around

What did they do
with their long, long necks
those long lost beasts
of time so deep?

there's nothing today alive
quite like a sauropod
did they reach out,
or did they reach high?

what did Tanystropheus,
or Elasomosaurus
do with their necks,
in seas so long ago?

#poetry
#PaleoPoetry
#Sauropod
#Plesiosaur
#Tanystropheus