While sauropods did have the ordinary ribs, meant for protecting their vital organs, they also had 13-foot-long ribs running the length of the neck, providing additional support and protection.

“Evolution is a game of trade-offs,” Dr. Spiekman said. “In the long run, the risk of having a long neck was worth it for this animal.” In other words, sticking your neck out can be worth ...

Long-necked sauropods ruled the land during the Jurassic ... and living species reveals how deep the roots of this adaptation run. To trace air sacs in fossils, scientists study a trait called ...

It also had a long neck and a small head ... with fewer plants and braided rivers running through the landscape, according to Chapelle. A diagram shows the smallest adult Jurassic sauropodomorph ...

The animals were reptiles with incredibly long necks and tails. The neck of the animals took up ... you might have run into one. It probably wouldn’t have ended well for you.

Back in Stuttgart, [we] closely analyzed their data and confirmed that the necks were bitten off in both specimens, representing the first clear example of decapitation in a long-necked marine ...

“Nevertheless, there was no evidence of decapitation—or any other sort of attack targeting the neck—known from the abundant fossil record of long-necked marine reptiles until our present ...