Dinocephalosaurus
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.[1]
| Dinocephalosaurus Temporal range: Anisian,
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|---|---|
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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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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Family: | †Tanystropheidae |
| Genus: | †Dinocephalosaurus Li, 2003 |
| Species: | †D. orientalis
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| Binomial name | |
| Dinocephalosaurus orientalis Li, 2003
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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".[2][3]
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.[4]
References
change- ↑ Yanbin Wang et al 2014 (2014). "The Triassic U–Pb age for the aquatic long-necked protorosaur of Guizhou, China". Geological Magazine. 151 (4): 749–754. doi:10.1017/S001675681400003X. S2CID 4147959.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Li C. 2003 (2010). "First record of protorosaurid reptile (Order Protorosauria) from the Middle Triassic of China"". Acta Geologica Sinica. 77 (4): 419–423. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2003.tb00122.x. S2CID 128905838.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Li C; Rieppel O. & LaBarbera M.C. 2004 (2004). "A Triassic aquatic Protorosaur with an extremely long neck". Science. 305 (5692): 1931. doi:10.1126/science.1100498. PMID 15448262. S2CID 38739295.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Rincin, Paul 2017. First live birth evidence in dinosaur relative. BBC News Science & Environment. [1]