Hovasaurus
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| Hovasaurus Fossil range: Late Permian |
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 life restoration of Hovasaurus boulei
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Hovasaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile belonging to the Order Eosuchia. It was about 50 cm (1 ft 8 in) long, and lived in what is now Madagascar.
Hovasaurus had adapted to an aquatic life, possessing a long (two-thirds of the total length) tail which was laterally flattened to form a fluke. Some stones have been found in the abdomen of fossil Hovasaurus, indicating the creatures swallowed these for ballast, preventing them from floating to the surface when hunting fish. The Mesozoic plesiosaurs also did this[citation needed].
[edit] References
D.Lambert, D.Naish and E.Wyse 2001, "Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and prehistoric life", p.77, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. ISBN 0-7513-0955-9
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