This massive ancient lizard had a neck that defies explanation

[Mike Wehner]

• Researchers have pieced together the bones and the life of an ancient species of lizard that had an incredibly long neck.
• Tanystropheus hydroides had a neck that took up almost half its body length, and it may have given the animal many advantages.
• The lizard likely lived in the water and hunted animals along the shore or snatched fish with its long jaws.

Dinosaurs can be pretty weird. Finding fossils from a creature that lived millions of years ago often results in paleontologists trying to figure out how the animal lived, how it hunted, and what it ate. In the case of the creatures belonging to the Tanystropheus family, the fossils are so bizarre that they almost defy explanation, but a new study has managed to piece together some aspects of the strange creatures' lives.

The animals were reptiles with incredibly long necks and tails. The neck of the animals took up nearly half of its body length, which could stretch to 16 feet. They look cartoonish, but their bodies may have given them unique advantages when it came to hunting.

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This massive ancient lizard had a neck that defies explanation originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 7 Aug 2020 at 22:36:42 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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