Dinocephalosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dinocephalosaurus |
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| Photograph (a) of specimen LPV 30280, which contains an fetus (c) and a perleidid fish (e) | |
| Scientific classification | |
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Dinocephalosaurus
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| Species: |
orientalis
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Dinocephalosaurus is a genus of long necked, aquatic Archosaurs which lived in the Triassic seas. Its fossils are found in 244 ± 1.3 million year old rocks.
Didocephalosaurus means "terrible headed lizard". The first specimen found was just a skull, discovered near Xinmin in Guizhou Province, China in 2002. The second specimen found nearby, and was the head and much of the postcrainal skeleton, minus the tail. Dinocephalosaurus is the "first record of protorosaurid reptile (Order Protorosauria) from the Middle Triassic of China".
A new specimen found in Yunnan Province, southern China, showed evidence of live births (ovoviviparity). This is the earliest known example of this in the large group of tetrapods which includes dinosaurs, crocodiles, pterosaurs and birds.
Images for kids
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Restoration
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Location of Luoping in Yunnan, China; Panxian is located in the neighboring Guizhou, to the east
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Map showing the location of Panxian and Luoping during the Anisian (a), with stratigraphic position of Luoping Dinocephalosaurus (b)
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Dinocephalosaurus and its close relative Tanystropheus, shown here, evolved their long necks convergently
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Life reconstruction of LPV 30280, shown eating a perleidid fish and bearing an embryo
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Asides from Dinocephalosaurus, metriorhynchids such as Metriorhynchus represent the only viviparous archosauromorphs
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The mixosaurian ichthyosaur Mixosaurus (or Barracudasauroides) panxianensis is frequently present alongside Dinocephalosaurus
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