Short-necked Triassic marine reptile fossil discovered in China

A new species of short-necked marine reptile from the Triassic period, about 248 million years ago, has been discovered in China, according to a study published Wednesday in the US journal PLOS ONE.

Hupehsuchia is a group of mysterious Triassic marine reptiles which have so far only been found in two counties in Hubei Province, China.

The group is known by its modestly long neck, with nine to ten cervical vertebrae, but the study reported a new species of Hupehsuchia that may show for the first time a species with a short neck and six cervical vertebrae.

The left forelimb of this specimen, which the researchers named Eohupehsuchus brevicollis, was incomplete, ending with broken digits.

"The breakage could only have occurred pre-burial," according to the study by Xiaohong Chen from Wuhan Center of China Geological Survey and other colleagues.

"The individual may have been attacked by a predator and escaped ... There is no evidence of healing, so the individual may not have lived for too long after it escaped."

In addition to the short neck, the skull shape, with narrow forehead and parietal bones on the top of the head shifted back, were distinct, further supporting the need to name a new species, the study added.