Dinocephalosaurus (SciiFii)

Dinocephalosaurus californii (meaning "California terrible-headed reptile") is a species of long necked, aquatic protorosaur that originally lived in the Triassic seas of China and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction and now lives in the Triassic Dinosaurs section of Cretaceous Park located in Sacramento, California. Unlike other long-necked protorosaurs (which form a group known as the tanystropheids), Dinocephalosaurus californii convergently evolved a long neck not through elongation of individual cervical vertebrae, but through the addition of cervical vertebrae that each have a moderate length. Like other tanystropheids, however, Dinocephalosaurus californii uses its long neck to hunt for prey, utilizing a combination of suction, created by the expansion of the throat, and the fang-like teeth of the jaws to ensnare prey. It is an almost-fully-aquatic marine animal, its poorly-ossified and almost-paddle-like limbs prevents it from normally going ashore. Dinocephalosaurus californii gives birth to live young like many fully-aquatic marine reptiles. Dinocephalosaurus californii is the only known member of the Archosauromorpha to give live birth, with the exception of the metriorhynchids, a group of marine crocodylomorphs.
Category:Animals
Category:SciiFii
Category:Reptiles
Category:Cretaceous Park