Further below are the Middle Reptile (layers 81-85) and Lower Reptile (77-79) Horizons. Subsequently, additional "Dinocephalosaurus" specimens were discovered from the slightly older Luoping locality, which has been dated to 245–244 million years old based on conodont biostratigraphy as well as preliminary radiometric dating. The specimens originate from bed 74 of the Luoping locality, in deposits located near the village of Dawazi, Luoping County, Yunnan, China. Bed 74 is part of a section composed of thin dark grey micritic limestone layers mixed with thicker layers of siliceous limestone and silty limestone, which extends downwards to bed 67. One particular specimen is notable for containing an embryo in its abdominal region, of which cervical vertebrae, forelimbs, and several other elements are preserved. It was collected in 2008; by the time of its collection, weathering had already split the specimen into three blocks, with the gaps having been filled by modern soil. The specimen was then transferred to the Chengdu Center of the China Geological Survey, where it was prepared and stored under the collection number LPV 30280. Subsequently, a description of the specimen, authored by Jun Liu, Chris Organ, Michael Benton, Matthew Brandley, and Jonathan Aitchison, was published in February 2017 by "Nature Communications". In his 2003 description, Li combined the roots of "din-" ("terrible"), "cephalo-" ("head"), and "saur" ("lizard") to create the genus name "Dinocephalosaurus". According to Li, this name refers to the "ghastful skull" of the holotype. Meanwhile, the species name is derived from Latin "orientalis" ("eastern"), in reference to "D. orientalis" representing the only known record at the time of the Tanystropheidae in what would have been the eastern portion of the Tethys Ocean. "Dinocephalosaurus" is considered to be a member of the Protorosauria, a group of ubiquitous and diverse Permo-Triassic reptiles. This assignment is based upon characteristics including the low and narrow skull with a short and narrow postorbital region; the long nasal relative to the frontal; the reduced backward projection of the jugal; the presence of more than seven cervical vertebrae, with centra longer than those of the dorsal vertebrae; the low neural spines of the cervical vertebrae; the long cervical ribs; the lack of intercentra articulating with the dorsal centra; and the absence of an entepicondylar foramen on the humerus.