A bizarre marine reptile used a neck nearly twice the length of its body to capture its prey, 230 million years ago. Fish saw only its small head in murky waters and, when they came too close, the animal quickly expanded its formidable throat to suck in its dinner.

The astonishing length of the neck of Dinocephalosaurus was revealed when a near complete skeleton was unearthed in China by Chun Li of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, in Beijing. The length took researchers by surprise, since the reptile had previously been known from only a fossil skull.