Trachelosaurus is an extinct type of reptile that lived a long time ago during the Early Triassic period, around 247 to 242 million years ago.
This creature is part of a group known as archosauromorphs, which includes ancestors of dinosaurs and modern reptiles.
Trachelosaurus was originally thought to be a dinosaur. However, in 1988, a scientist named Robert L. Carroll reclassified it as a “protorosaur,” which is a different type of reptile.
The first species to be named was Trachelosaurus fischeri, described in 1917 by researchers F. Broili and E. Fischer. They found its remains in Germany.
Recent studies in 2024 showed that Trachelosaurus likely had a long neck and was probably adapted to living in water, similar to another creature called Dinocephalosaurus, which comes from China.
In terms of classification, Trachelosaurus belongs to a family called Trachelosauridae. This family includes related species, and recent findings suggest that Trachelosaurus is closely linked to Dinocephalosaurus in a group identified in 2021.
Although the proper name for this group is Trachelosauridae, the earlier name is still used to honor its first identification.
In summary, Trachelosaurus provides a fascinating glimpse into early reptiles and how they are connected to the history of life on Earth.