Long-necked dinosaurs could often fall prey to predators that bit off their heads. This conclusion was drawn by the paleontologists who first described the case of the decapitation of marine dinosaurs in an article published in the journal Current Biology.
Some species of dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago had extremely elongated necks, which gave them certain advantages over other reptiles when hunting. However, there have been discussions among paleontologists for two hundred years about whether this structural feature could make dinosaurs vulnerable to predators that could bite off their heads.
“Paleontologists have wondered if long necks could be a weak point during an attack, as evidenced nearly 200 years ago in a famous painting by paleontologist Henry Thomas de la Beche in 1830,” explained Stefan Szpikman of the Stuttgart Natural History Museum. “However, until our new study of two dinosaur remains of the genus Tanystropheus (tanystropheus), there was no evidence of decapitation or attacks targeting the neck.”
current biology
Shpik examined fossil specimens of tenistrophes held in the collection of the Paleontological Museum of the University of Zurich. Exhibits are neck bones with a head – one is one and a half meters long, the second is six meters. It is assumed that the first dinosaur fed on small crustaceans such as shrimp, the second on fish and squid, using a long neck to hunt in ambush.
The remains are a skull and 13 highly elongated vertebrae, and detailed analysis revealed traces of predator teeth on the bones of the extreme vertebrae. This indicates that the neck with the head was separated from the body precisely during the attack about 240 million years ago. “The necks end abruptly, indicating that they have been completely severed by another animal following a violent attack, as evidenced by the teeth marks,” the author explained.
current biology
According to scientists, it is impossible to determine exactly which predator caused the death of the dinosaurs; it was most likely a larger predatory reptile that also lived in the aquatic environment.
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
