#archosauromorpha

[saritawolf]

Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[alphynix]

Akidostropheus oligos was a small tanystropheid archosauromorph reptile that lived during the late Triassic, about 223-218 million years ago, in what is now Arizona, USA.

Only a few tiny isolated vertebrae have been discovered, so its full size and appearance isn't known – making any reconstruction rather speculative – but it was probably around 30cm long (~12"). Like other tanystropheids it would have been a long-necked lizard-like animal, and may have had a similar build to the closely-related Tanytrachelos.

But despite the scarcity of material the few known vertebrae are unique among archosauromorphs, bearing elongated spikes with a surface texture that suggests they were covered with keratinous sheaths. The spikes were conical, sharp, and hooked on the neck and upper back, but became more flattened, straighter, and blade-like on the lower back and tail.

These structures were probably defensive in nature, especially considering that there's direct fossil evidence for predators targeting the long necks of tanystropheids and decaptiating them.

Akidostropheus lived in a tropical floodplain environment around a meandering river system, but without more and better fossils it's impossible to tell what its ecology was. Tanystropheids were a strange and diverse bunch, with both terrestrial and aquatic lifestyles, bipedal runners, and possibly even bizarre leg-gliders, so this spiky little Triassic weirdo could have been doing almost anything.

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References:

Schubul, Alaska N., Adam D. Marsh, and Ben T. Kligman. "A diverse assemblage of tanystropheid archosauromorphs from the continental interior of Late Triassic Pangea includes a new taxon (Akidostropheus oligos gen. et sp. nov.)." Palaeodiversity 18.1 (2025): 99-125. https://doi.org/10.18476/pale.v18.a5

Smith, Amy C. "Description of Tanytrachelos ahynis and its implications for the phylogeny of Protorosauria." PhD thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blackburg, VA, USA. 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/37652

Spiekman, Stephan NF, and Eudald Mujal. "Decapitation in the long-necked Triassic marine reptile Tanystropheus." Current Biology 33.13 (2023): R708-R709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.027

Spiekman, Stephan NF, et al. "A redescription of Trachelosaurus fischeri from the Buntsandstein (Middle Triassic) of Bernburg, Germany: the first European Dinocephalosaurus-like marine reptile and its systematic implications for long-necked early archosauromorphs." Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 143.1 (2024): 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-024-00309-6

Wikipedia contributors. “Akidostropheus” Wikipedia, 04 Aug. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akidostropheus

[wingedjewels]

Masked Flowerpiercer by Jay Packer Via Flickr: This species is widespread in the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia where it occupies mid to high elevation cloud forests, typically above 6,500 feet elevation. Hacienda El Bosque, Colombia

[ye-oldroderich]

wow ignore that i havent posted here since last year. ANYWAYS !!!! somehow i forgot to post these guys alongside my Megaraptor i drew in november so 😭 here's some more fandinos for Paleo Pines !!!

"fandinos" being sorta misleading though since neither of these guys are dinosaurs lol. regardless, up first we have Tanystropheus who is infinitely ridiculous. then we have Sharovipteryx, who is equally infinitely ridiculous. both of these guys lived in the Triassic - and surprisingly, are likely related!

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Gharial?

We've done gharial before but it was in the early days of this blog (only about 100 votes), so I'll do it again :)

Have you seen the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)?

I have now

Yes, in photos/videos

Yes, irl

I'm not sure

Voting ended onOct 10, 2024

[faunalregion]

[justgoji]

Ozimek volans, a Polish reptile that’s also a close relative of Sharovipteryx.

With Hatsune Miku for scale:

[extinctworld-ua]

Gracilicollum

Gracilicollum — рід ймовірних таністрофеїдних архозавроморфів з середньотріасової (анізій) формації Гуаньлін у Китаї. Рід містить один вид, G. latens, відомий за черепом і частковою шиєю.

Повний текст на сайті "Вимерлий світ":

https://extinctworld.in.ua/gracilicollum/