Had Extraordinarily Long Neck Tanystropheus hydroides, the newly-described species of reptile that lived 242 million years ago (Triassic period), was about 6 m (20 feet) long, with the neck making up half of that length — three times as long as its torso. Tanystropheus hydroides. Image credit: Emma Finley-Jacob. One …
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Paleontologists Find Giant Soft-Shelled Egg of Cretaceous-Period Marine Reptile in Antarctica A giant fossilized egg of an extinct marine reptile has been found in the 68-million-year-old nearshore marine deposits in Antarctica. An artist’s rendering of a pair of mosasaurs and their egg. Image credit: Francisco Hueichaleo. Named Antarcticoolithus bradyi, the …
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Paleontologists have described a completely unexpected new species of reptile that lived 230 million years ago (Triassic period). Dr. Stocker and co-authors describe Triopticus primus, a bizarre Late Triassic animal, whose skull structure is converged on by distantly related dome-headed pachycephalosaurs. The unique body plans observed in Triopticus primus and …
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212-million-year-old fossils discovered in New Mexico confirm that Drepanosaurus, a Late Triassic tree-dwelling reptile, was a small-bodied creature with a fearsome finger. The second digit of its forelimb sported a huge claw. Drepanosaurus unguicaudatus rips away tree bark with its huge claw and powerful arm. Image credit: Victor Leshyk. Yale …
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