Cryptic crossword clue
Early birds in tight lycra spotted 12

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word PTERODACTYLS

I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Early birds" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case early birds = pterodactyls.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

Crossword Answer definitions

PTERODACTYLS noun
  1. A pterosaur in the genus Pterodactylus.
  2. Any pterosaur.

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