A team of researchers in the UK have said that the long necks of some dinosaurs game them great evolutionary advantages.

The team said that the long neck of creates such as the 100-foot-plus sauropods provided an increased browsing range also helped in mate attraction. The researchers said that the muscles, tendons and ligaments were positioned in such a way around the spine that it allowed a huge support for more efficient neck movements.

The team said that the creatures had hollow neck bones and a series of evolutionary traits to support long necks that are no longer present in the modern animals. The team examined several fossil specimens and found that some creatures possessed distinct traits allowing them to support really long necks.

Lead researcher Michael Taylor said, "They were really stupidly, absurdly oversized. In our feeble, modern world, we're used to thinking of elephants as big, but sauropods reached ten times the size elephants do. They were the size of walking whales."

The research team arrived at its findings by examining the osteology of sauropod necks more closely and comparing cervical anatomy with nearest extant relatives. They also studied the unusual features of sauropods' cervical vertebrae. The research is trying to provide an answer the long mystery as to why some of the dinosaurs had such long necks.