Why the Long neck?

Ask, Mar 2005 by Watson, Galadriel

Giraffes need them to reach up into trees. Flamingos need them to reach down for a drink. But why did some ancient marine reptiles have such incredibly long necks?

The fossilized remains of a Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, recently discovered in China (its name means "terrible-headed lizard from the Orient"), may provide the answer. The 230-million-year-old reptile had a body just three feet long, but its neck was five and a half feet long. Attached to its 25 neck vertebrae were thin, curved bones called neck ribs.

Scientists think that the creature's long neck and neck ribs may have made it a sneakier hunter. How? When Dinocephalosaurus thrust its head through the water to capture prey, it created a wave that could push away or alert its dinner. But by spreading its neck ribs outward as it thrust its head forward, the reptile's long neck sucked in the wave-and dinner, too. Some living turtles and fish also use suction to catch a meal.

The long neck may have helped Dinocephalosaurus hunt in other ways. In murky water, a fish would have seen only a small head, roughly fish-size, coming toward it. By the time it saw the beast was actually a huge predator, it would have been too late to escape. Gulp!

-Galadriel Watson