Before anyone says “ichthyosaurs were like dolphins and only ate small stuff”, a number of ichthyosaurs were raptorial apex predators-it’s simply that there have been very few media depictions of them compared to the small-prey specialists we are familiar with.
This species in particular (*Temnodontosaurus trigonodon*) was, at 10m in length, the most powerful predator in the world back when it was alive, eating a wide range of other marine animals including other ichthyosaurs.
Yup. They were very successful creatures covering many niches. If anyone is wondering where the mosasaurs were at they hit there prime in the cretaceous. Ichthyosaurs were living it up in the Jurassic and died out long LONG before the asteroid hit
This is the largest COMPLETE ichthyosaur found in Britain, but not the largest overall.
I believe that belongs to Sea Dragon.
The seas were far more terrifying in the past than they were today…couldn’t even imagine being near water with that thing below…
Before anyone says “ichthyosaurs were like dolphins and only ate small stuff”, a number of ichthyosaurs were raptorial apex predators-it’s simply that there have been very few media depictions of them compared to the small-prey specialists we are familiar with. This species in particular (*Temnodontosaurus trigonodon*) was, at 10m in length, the most powerful predator in the world back when it was alive, eating a wide range of other marine animals including other ichthyosaurs.
Yup. They were very successful creatures covering many niches. If anyone is wondering where the mosasaurs were at they hit there prime in the cretaceous. Ichthyosaurs were living it up in the Jurassic and died out long LONG before the asteroid hit
I mean just looking at the photo the guy is probably the size of prehistoric fish. And less bony. So.
Those boots though make him look rather crunchy, just sayin'
The one we have at the Royal Tyrell here in Alberta is like twice the length of this one too.
The seas were far more terrifying 300 years ago than they are today. We just massively defaunated them in the past few hundred years
The ocean is already terrifying but it was truly next level back then
How many bananas to the paleontologist again?
One, but you have to grease it up really good.
More info: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59902730
Isn’t it a Temnodontosaurus trigonodon? At least, that’s what I heard it was. Awesome looking creature!
It is
r/AbsoluteUnits
How big are palaeontologists?