These plates and spines were fused to the underlying bones

adapted to withstand high mechanical forces during biting

with an estimated age of around 165 million years

which would have favored the evolution of large herbivores capable of traveling long distances in search of food

Its wide body

Tanystropheus longobardicus Silesaurus These plates and spines wereDuring the Middle Triassic, the coastal ecosystems of the supercontinent Pangaea hosted a diverse and, in many cases, morphologically unusual reptilian fauna. Prominent among these forms is Tanystropheus longobardicus , a basal archosauromorph whose unique anatomy has been the subject of extensive paleobiological and functional debate. This reptile is mainly characterized by an extremely elongated neck composed of disproportionately long cervical