Breaking

Making Sense of ‘One of the Most Baffling Animals That Ever Lived’ - The New York Times
Aug 12, 2020 59 secs
Only in the 1930s, when more complete fossils emerged from the Monte San Giorgio in Switzerland, did scientists realize they were looking at neck vertebrae from a strange reptile whose way of life they couldn’t figure out.

But paleontologists continued to argue whether Tanystropheus actively pursued underwater prey or perched onshore, using its long neck like a fishing pole.

Spiekman’s team sought answers first by CT scanning a specimen of Tanystropheus’ head from a Zurich museum, and reconstructing it, which proved difficult because “all the bones were jumbled together, and because the skull of Tanystropheus is very different from other reptiles in many respects.”.

Spiekman said, it probably ambushed them in murky water, lunging forward with its long neck to snap up fish.

To test whether the bones of the smaller Tanystropheus belonged to juveniles or a separate species, the team studied thin sections of bone prepared by Mr.

Spiekman and his team hope to take a fresh look at the biomechanics of the jaws, and that long, strange neck

“But the fact that Tanystropheus evolved into different species with very different lifestyles indicates that Tanystropheus and its neck were quite successful in evolutionary terms.”

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED