briefly mentioned in comparison to Fuyuansaurus by Fraser, Rieppel, and Li in 2013. Furthermore, another embryonic skeleton catalogued as IVPP V22788 was found at Luoping, and was considered by them to be closely related to Dinocephalosaurus on account of its large number of short neck vertebrae and its pillar-like limbs. However, they also noted some differences that were likely unrelated to growth, such as the presence of fewer (24 instead of 33) neck vertebrae and the presence of a sclerotic ring, which led them to assign it to not Dinocephalosaurus but a closely related animal. Naming In his 2003 description, Li combined the roots of din- ("terrible"), cephalo- ("head"), and saur ("lizard") to create the genus name Dinocephalosaurus. According to Li, this name refers to the "ghastful skull" of the holotype. Meanwhile, the species name is derived from Latin orientalis ("eastern"), in reference to D. orientalis representing the only known record at the time of the Tanystropheidae in what would have been the eastern portion of the Tethys Ocean. Description Dinocephalosaurus was a large member of the Protorosauria, attaining a maximum body length of at least , compared to a maximum of for Tanystropheus. The known specimens were probably mature, given that they have fused skull bones and lack the multi-cusped teeth seen in juvenile Tanystropheus. Skull The skull of Dinocephalosaurus was low and narrow, with a long premaxilla and maxilla compared to those of Tanystropheus. Both the premaxilla and the maxilla met at the front bottom corner and contributed to the border of the nostril, which was located at the front end of a long recess that extended along the snout in front of the eye socket (the antorbital depression). This recess was also present in Macrocnemus and Fuyuansaurus. Like Pectodens, the thickness of the premaxilla meant that the nostrils were retracted from the tip of the snout. The bottom margins of the two snout bones were respectively lined with five and twelve long and nail-like teeth; the third premaxillary and fourth and fifth maxillary teeth were distinctly fang-like. The lower jaw preserves fifteen teeth, with three of them having been fang-like and forming a "fish trap". By comparison, the teeth in adult Tanystropheus were sharp pegs, while they were tricuspid (bearing three cusps) in juveniles. Unlike the oval-shaped eye socket of Tanystropheus, the eye socket of Dinocephalosaurus appears to have been peach-shaped, with a narrow front end. On