The Heavenly Palace selected the twelve zodiac animals. The one who overslept was not the cat, but...

In Chinese folklore, there is a story that is well known to everyone, that is, the heavenly court selected the twelve zodiac animals, and the cat missed the opportunity because he overslept. There is also a similar story in reality, but the protagonist is not a cat, but an extinct marine reptile that lived in the Triassic period - Anshunsaurus.

Anshunsaurus is a representative of the order Syngnathidae in my country and the first member of the order discovered in my country. It was named after an incomplete skeleton fossil found in Guanling, Anshun City, Guizhou Province. It includes three types: Huangguoshu Anshunsaurus, Wusha Anshunsaurus and Huangnihe Anshunsaurus. The members of the order Syngnathidae are divided into two families according to their morphology: Syngnathidae and Mystosauridae. The former usually has about 7 cervical vertebrae, while the latter usually has more than 10. Anshunsaurus belongs to the latter.

They have very long necks and tails, with about 15-17 cervical vertebrae and more than 50 caudal vertebrae. They have slender bodies and well-developed but relatively small limbs. The limbs did not evolve into flippers like ichthyosaurs to adapt to aquatic life, but maintained the form of terrestrial organisms, which did not play a big role in propulsion for swimming. They mainly rely on lateral swinging of the tail and twisting of the body to move forward, and cannot maintain high-speed movement for a long time. The long snout and conical sharp teeth indicate that they are not like the placodonts that can grind the shells of shelled mollusks in coastal areas, but are more suitable for preying on fast-moving and smooth-bodied fish, which makes their predation mode focus on ambush.

Although there is no clear fossil evidence, it is speculated that in order to match this hunting method, they may have stripes on their backs to conceal their bodies when preparing to attack, and their abdomens are white with few colors to confuse natural enemies from below.

Huangguoshu Anshunlong

Since Anshunsaurus itself is a relatively large marine reptile, with a body length of about 3 meters, its range of activities includes the shore and shallow sea areas that are difficult for larger marine reptiles, such as the Guizhou ichthyosaur, which is about 10 meters long, to enter. Therefore, although it did not have the power to dominate the ocean, it was able to live in peace and security in a corner and lead a stable and smooth life, which is worthy of the auspicious name "Anshun".

Wusha Anshunlong

Huangnihe Anshunlong

However, although he lived a peaceful and smooth life, he almost missed the title of China's first sea dragon after his death. In 1999, the incomplete skeleton fossil mentioned above was discovered and was mistakenly believed by researchers at the time to be a fin-like marine reptile. In 2000, after in-depth research by scholars from China and the United States, it was confirmed that it belonged to the sea dragon and was named Huangguoshu Anshun Dragon, which filled the gap that my country had never found sea dragon fossils before. However, in fact, as early as the 1970s, the complete skeleton fossil of Anshun Dragon had been discovered in Xingyi area. Due to the limitations of the knowledge at the time, this fossil specimen was "sleeping" in the warehouse, and no one studied or named it. Just like the cat in the zodiac legend, it missed the honor that should have belonged to it. What's more regrettable is that it failed to play the important role it should have in related research.