In 2003, paleontologists described a new species of prehistoric marine reptile, based on the analysis of fossils discovered in China dating to about 240 million years ago.
At the time, they named it with the scientific name Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, estimating that it measured about five metres in length. But now, the discovery of more fossilized bones allows a clearer picture of the appearance of this Triassic sea predator, as well as of how it lived.
In an article published in the journal ‘Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’, and based on “seven very well-preserved specimens from the southwest of Guizhou Province, southern China”, an international team of scientists reveals that the dinosaur had a neck that was extraordinarily long and flexible, with 32 vertebrae.
Photo: National Museums Scotland
This feature, they write, makes him resemble another Triassic marine dinosaur named Tanystropheus hydroides. Moreover, both species have dentition that scientists identify as suited to a fish-based diet and a predatory lifestyle.
The D. orientalis had fin-shaped limbs, which specialists say made it especially adapted to life in the seas. As if that weren’t enough, some fossils showed remains of fish in the stomachs, confirming the predatory nature of the dinosaur.
Although similar, the D. orientalis is not a close genetic relative of marine reptiles known as plesiosaurs, which lived 40 million years ago and are thought to have given rise to the Loch Ness Monster legend.
According to Nicholas Fraser, a paleontologist at the National Museums Scotland and one of the authors of the article, the five new specimens described for the first time in this study, one of them fully articulated, add to the knowledge already obtained from fossils discovered previously, allowing “a complete view, for the first time, of this extraordinary animal with a long neck.”
For the scientist, “this is yet another example of the strange and wonderful world of the Triassic that continues to mystify paleontologists,” he says, cited in a press release. Because of its peculiar morphology and the fact that its long neck makes it resemble a snake, and since it was found in China, Fraser states that the D. orientalis resembles “the mythical Chinese dragon.”
