A genus of extinct marine reptiles from the Jurassic period, characterized by hidden or reduced collar bones and long necks adapted for hunting in ancient seas.
From Greek 'kryptos' (hidden) + 'kleis' (collarbone), named in 1892 by Richard Lydekker to describe a plesiosaur with reduced collarbone structures compared to other marine reptiles.
Cryptocleidus had a neck so long and flexible it could curve around corners to sneak up on fish—imagine a 26-foot aquatic snake with a body, and that's basically what this creature was hunting 150 million years ago.
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