The 240-million-year-old fossil’s neck has 32 separate vertebrae, longer than its physique and tail mixed.

National Museums of Scotland

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National Museums of Scotland

The 240-million-year-old fossil’s neck has 32 separate vertebrae, longer than its physique and tail mixed.

National Museums of Scotland

It’s a becoming discovery within the Year of the Dragon: A group of scientists has uncovered an entire fossil of an aquatic reptile that resembles a “Chinese dragon” due to its snake-like look and elongated neck.

The fossil of the Dinocephalosaurus orientalis dates again 240 million years to the Triassic interval and was discovered within the Guizhou Province of southern China.

While the reptile was first recognized in 2003, this newest discovery is extra full — about 16 ft lengthy — and allowed the scientists to depict the unusual, prehistoric creature in full for the primary time.

“It is yet one more example of the weird and wonderful world of the Triassic that continues to baffle palaeontologists,” mentioned Nick Fraser, head of the National Museum of Scotland’s Department of Natural Sciences, in a news release launched Friday. “We are certain that it will capture imaginations across the globe due to its striking appearance, reminiscent of the long and snake-like, mythical Chinese Dragon.”

Professor Li Chun from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology mentioned the discover has been a global effort — the researchers behind the invention are from Scotland, Germany, America and China.

Dinocephalosaurus orientalis swimming alongside prehistoric fish often called Saurichthys.

National Museums of Scotland

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National Museums of Scotland

Dinocephalosaurus orientalis swimming alongside prehistoric fish often called Saurichthys.

National Museums of Scotland

The group studied the weird reptile on the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology in Beijing. Its flippered limbs and exquisitely preserved fish in its abdomen point out the reptile was tailored to the ocean, the researchers mentioned.

“We used newly discovered specimens housed at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to build on our existing knowledge of this animal,” mentioned Chun. “Among all of the extraordinary finds we have made in the Triassic of Guizhou Province, Dinocephalosaurus probably stands out as the most remarkable.”

Stephan Spiekman, a postdoctoral researcher primarily based on the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History, added that the group hopes future analysis will assist unveil extra in regards to the evolution of this group of animals, specifically how the terribly lengthy neck functioned.

The neck has 32 separate vertebrae — longer than the creature’s physique and tail mixed — and presumably performed a key function in feeding, based on a examine revealed by the Cambridge University Press.