Reptile
Tanystropheus
Some of its long bones were first thought to be part of a wing; they were later recognized as neck bones.
Tanystropheus had an extraordinarily long neck built from just thirteen elongated vertebrae.
Three stages. One companion.
Game artwork
AI-generated, stylized game illustrations. These designs and growth stages are imaginative, not scientific reconstructions.
Tanystropheus at a glance
- Diet
- Carnivore
- It is interpreted as a consumer of other animals. Hunting and scavenging are not mutually exclusive behaviors.
- When it lived
- Triassic
- Group
- Tanystropheidae
- Tanystropheids
- Fossil locations
- Germany, Poland, Italy, Switzerland
- Places where fossils have been found
Beyond the game
The real Tanystropheus
Its neck was longer than the trunk and tail combined, but contained only thirteen very elongated vertebrae. The long cervical ribs helped reinforce it.
Some long bones were first mistaken for wing bones, then recognized as neck vertebrae. Putting them in the right place revealed a body plan that was hard to imagine from isolated fragments.
This grouping describes evolutionary relationships. Its members share ancestors; they do not form a chain in which one must turn into another.
Fossil discoveries
Selected fossil records · present-day map
Map references
Map: Natural Earth, public domain. Fossil records: linked collections and publications.Sources & text credits
Explore the references behind this profile.
- Tanystropheus
Wikipedia contributors · Spanish source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Tanystropheus
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Tanystropheidae
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Reptiles · extinct branch
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
Educational text adapted in English from the existing Wikipedia-backed Dinosgacha catalogue and linked articles by Wikipedia contributors.
Existing English translations have been selected and arranged for this encyclopedia. Repeated period and diet text is omitted where those fields already carry it. Unknown facts remain unfilled; unreviewed geological age phrases are omitted and period labels replace numerical ages.
The adapted educational text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. This text license does not apply to the game illustrations.