They found fossils of a “Chinese dragon” 240 million years old It is an aquatic reptile that reaches a length of five meters.

An international team of scientists has described new Chinese fossils of Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a five-meter-long aquatic reptile from the Triassic Period that lived 240 million years ago. This was reported on Friday. The fossils were discovered in Guizhou Province, southern China..

With 32 separate neck vertebrae, the eastern Deinocephalosaurus had an unusually long neck compared to the neck of Tanystropheus hydroides, another strange marine reptile from the Middle Triassic. Who inhabited Europe and China. Both reptiles were similar in size and had many common cranial features, including fish trap-like teeth.

However, only Dinocephalosaurus had multiple vertebrae, both in the neck and in the torso, giving the animal a snake-like appearance. So it is clear that The reptile was well adapted to an oceanic lifestyleEvidence of this is the limbs with fins and the fish that is still preserved in its stomach.

Despite the superficial similarities, dinosaurs It was not closely related to the famous long-necked plesiosaurs Which evolved about 40 million years ago and which inspired the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.

Nick Fraser“This discovery allows us to see this magnificent long-necked animal in its entirety for the first time,” National Museums Scotland's curator of natural sciences said in a statement. It's another example of the strange and wonderful world of the Triassic that continues to mystify paleontologists.. “We are sure it will capture everyone's imagination due to its stunning appearance, reminiscent of the long, snake-like mythical Chinese dragon.”

The reptile was originally identified in 2003, but the discovery of additional, more complete specimens, including one fully articulated, It has allowed scientists to fully represent this strange, long-necked creature for the first time.

Researchers from Scotland, Germany, the United States and China They studied the fossil for ten years at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing.part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The article describing the animal was fully published in the scientific journal Elegacy and Environmental Science: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.