{"id":30077,"date":"2024-02-24T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=30077"},"modified":"2024-02-23T10:41:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T15:41:02","slug":"fossil-reveals-240-million-year-old-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=30077","title":{"rendered":"Fossil reveals 240 million year-old &#8216;dragon&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 idepyX\" data-component=\"headline-block\">\n<h1 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 bWszMR\">Fossil reveals 240 million year-old &#8216;dragon&#8217;<\/h1>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 dIyQzT\" data-component=\"timestamp-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-26840bd1-0 jJuIKe\" data-testid=\"timestamp\">\n<div class=\"sc-26840bd1-1 cqXZYv\"><strong><time class=\"sc-26840bd1-3 khgHfO\">\u00a0<\/time><span class=\"sc-d63d5cd8-3 faMHro\" data-testid=\"byline-name\">By Victoria Gill<\/span><span class=\"sc-d63d5cd8-4 cfPEjL\" data-testid=\"byline-role\">Science correspondent, BBC News<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 fJflFe\" data-component=\"image-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-a898728c-1 jWZsJP\" data-testid=\"hero-image\">\n<figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-a898728c-0 kbvxap\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/12AC1\/production\/_132718467_mediaitem132718466.jpg.webp\" alt=\"NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF SCOTLAND Dinocephalosaurus orientalis\" width=\"480\" height=\"363\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF SCOTLAND<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\"><b class=\"sc-7dcfb11b-0 kVRnKf\">Scientists have revealed a new, remarkably complete fossil &#8211; a 16ft (5m)-long aquatic reptile from the Triassic period. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The creature dates back 240 million years and has been dubbed a &#8220;dragon&#8221; because of its extremely long neck.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">It is called <i class=\"sc-7dcfb11b-0 kKcaog\">Dinocephalosaurus orientalis,<\/i> a species that was originally identified back in 2003.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">This spectacular new fossil has allowed scientists to see the full anatomy of this bizarre prehistoric beast.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Dr Nick Fraser, from National Museums Scotland, who was part of the international team that studied the fossil, said this was the first time scientists had been able to see it in full. He described it as &#8220;a very strange animal&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 hJWXXD\" data-component=\"unordered-list-block\">\u00a0&#8220;It had flipper-like limbs and its neck is longer than its body and tail combined,&#8221; he said.<\/section>\n<div class=\"sc-a87d7c21-0 ekSBHN\" data-component=\"ad-slot\" data-testid=\"ad-unit\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The researcher speculated that a &#8220;long, bendy and flexible neck&#8221;, with its 32 separate vertebrae, might have provided a hunting advantage &#8211; allowing <i class=\"sc-7dcfb11b-0 kKcaog\">Dinocephalosaurus orientalis<\/i> to search for food in crevices under the water.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The fossil was discovered in ancient limestone deposits in southern China.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;This discovery just adds to the weirdness of the Triassic,&#8221; Dr Fraser told BBC News. &#8220;And every time we look in these deposits, we find something new.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 dMVnbQ\" data-component=\"image-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-a898728c-1 jWZsJP\" data-testid=\"image\">\n<figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-a898728c-0 kbvxap\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/178E1\/production\/_132718469_mediaitem132718468.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Marlene Donelly An artist's impression of Dinocephalosaurus orientalis swimming alongside prehistoric fish known as Saurichthys\" width=\"480\" height=\"221\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marlene Donelly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 dIyQzT\" data-component=\"caption-block\"><span class=\"sc-cdeb84b0-0 bRiQvM\">Artist Marlene Donelly recreated a scene of Dinocephalosaurus orientalis swimming with prehistoric fish.<\/span><\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-4e574cd-0 bhtqwj\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The paper describing a set of new fossils of the animal is published in the journal Earth and Environmental Science: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"sc-a87d7c21-0 ekSBHN\" data-component=\"ad-slot\" data-testid=\"ad-unit\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fossil reveals 240 million year-old &#8216;dragon&#8217; \u00a0By Victoria GillScience correspondent, BBC News Scientists have revealed a new, remarkably complete fossil &#8211; a 16ft (5m)-long aquatic reptile from the Triassic period. The creature dates back 240 million years and has been dubbed a &#8220;dragon&#8221; because of its extremely long neck. It is called Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=30077\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Fossil reveals 240 million year-old &#8216;dragon&#8217;<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1651],"tags":[1212,1374,1748],"class_list":["post-30077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dinosaurs-and-company","tag-dragon","tag-fossil","tag-triassic"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30078,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30077\/revisions\/30078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}