Liopleurodon

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As the apex predators that they were, Liopleurodon had a wide variety of prey, ranging from ichthyosaurs to marine crocodiles, sharks, and other pliosaurs. This brawl is one of the reasons scientists believe that most youngsters did not make it to adulthood.

Since they did not have gills like some whales today, they go to the surface to take a huge gulp of air which can last them for over an hour in the depths of water.Over the years, several findings established the existence of the Liopleurodon during the Jurassic period, but all these were still uncommon knowledge for a while. These flippers were primarily used for maneuvering and steering in the water, making them great swimmers, regardless of their vast size. Mounted skeleton of Liopleurodon ferox in the Tübingen Museum, Germany (from Martill and Naish, 2000). Benson, R.B.J.; Evans, M; Smith, A.S.; Sassoon, J.; Moore-Faye S.; Ketchum, H.F. and Forrest, R. 2013. A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England. PLoS ONE 8(5): e65989. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065989 Knutsen, E. M. 2012. A taxonomic revision of the genus Pliosaurus (Owen, 1841a) Owen, 1841b. Norwegian Journal of Geology, 92, 259–276.

There are two determinations for this specimen in the NHM’s data portal. One of the determinations is Liopleurodon ferox but this is an old identification (Hilary Ketchum, personal communication). The most recent determination is attributed to my friend and fellow plesiosaur palaeontologist Dr Hilary Ketchum who regards it more cautiously as an indeterminate pliosaurid (personal communication). [In a previous version of this article I wrongly attributed the Liopeurodon ferox determination to Hilary]. So, there you go, the Newman & Tarlo reconstruction is based on material that was once referred to Liopleurodon ferox, and although the material is too incomplete to be sure, it could be. Ah, if only it were that simple… Geological map of Stewartby showing the position of the Coronation Pit where the ‘Stewartby Pliosaur’ was excavated from the Peterborough Member of the Oxford Clay Formation. Over the years, people have tried to draw or design the Liopleurodon differently, some as a two-dimensional image, others as three-dimensional toys and sculptures. Conclusion They also believe that they weighed 2200-3700 pounds, sometimes more than that, making this species one of the world’s biggest and strongest predatory animals. The full and complicated story of the ‘Stretham Pliosaur’ specimen (OXFUM J.35990) is one for another day, but in short it is a substantially complete pliosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay, named ‘ Stretosaurus‘ macromerus by Tarlo (1959) and later reattributed by him (Halstead, 1989) to Liopleurodon macromerus. The Stretham skeleton was retained as the lectotype of Pliosaurus macromerus by Knutsen (2012) but referred to Pliosaurus cf. kevani by Benson et al. (2013) – either way, it is Pliosaurus, not Liopleurodon.More bones were recovered in other areas in France, and although they were initially categorized under the genus Poikilopleuron, Sauvage finally classified them under Liopleurodon. Tarlo, L. B. 1960. A review of the Upper Jurassic pliosaurs. British Museum (Natural History), Geology, 4, 145–189. We know Halstead attributed the reconstruction to Liopleurodon in 1982 (Halstead 1982), so we can be reasonably confident the reconstruction was based on material regarded by him as Liopleurodon at that time, which would have included the lectotype of ‘ Stretosaurus‘. It would also make sense for Tarlo to use the ‘Stretham Pliosaur’ specimen in the Newman & Tarlo reconstruction for two other reasons. First, he described and was intimately familiar with it (Tarlo, 1957, 1959, 1960), and second, in Tarlo’s words, “The Streatham specimen is one of the most important Pliosaur[sic] skeletons to have come out of the Kimeridge [sic][and]…most of the post-cranial skeleton can be described” (Tarlo 1959, p. 41). And, of course, the specimen certainly fulfils the criterion of “other giant pliosaur remains” as stipulated by Newman and Tarlo.

They adjusted to the marine lifestyle in the water by developing stiff vertebrae and flippers to aid movement. While paleontologists had concluded that the Liopleurodon had a maximum length of 25 feet, the series portrayed the animal as long as 80 feet. Ultimately, these carnivorous reptiles started to decline until they finally disappeared about 150 million years ago, around the beginning of the Cretaceous period. Interactions with Other Species The Peking Natural Science-Art Organisation have a diverse range of detailed dinosaur toys and statues.

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Due to their massive size and hunting skills, it is hard to believe that Liopleurodon had any natural enemies that could hunt them for food except for other marine reptiles in their clade. There was no substantial evidence to support this claim, but the series’ producers used this outrageous size anyway. However, the size of this reptile was exaggerated, with the magazine claiming that it could reach 39 feet.

Otherwise called “smooth-sided tooth,” this now-extinct reptile was an apex predator that roamed the oceans between the Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic periods. Liopleurodon remains have also been found in and around Germany and England. Gage Beasley’s Prehistoric Shirt Collection Gage Beasley’s Prehistoric Plush Collection Likely evolving from archosaurians and turtles, these reptiles developed aquatic features that made them thrive in the ocean. Halstead knew the validity of ‘ Stretosaurus‘ was questionable much earlier than his formal declaration and reallocation of the genus to Liopleurodon in 1989. As early as 1977, in collaboration with Robinson, he had re-evaluated the diagnostic scapula of ‘ Stretosaurus‘ as an ilium (Robinson, 1977), so the genus ‘Stretosaurus’was already called into question by then. The last publication I can find where Tarlo/Halstead refers to ‘Stretosaurus’ as a valid taxon is in 1971 (Halstead, 1971). So, perhaps he (and Robinson?) came to the conclusion that ‘ Stretosaurus‘ was Liopleurodon sometime between 1971 and 1977. If so, and if the reconstruction was partly based on the ‘Stretham Pliosaur’, this could explain Robinson (1975) attributing the reconstruction to Liopleurodon. Liopleurodon were aquatic reptiles that constituted a significant part of the ecosystem about 160 million years ago.Historically, the first plesiosaurs existed about 203 million years ago, during the Late Triassic period, and became prominent during the Jurassic Era. Tarlo, L. B. 1959. Stretosaurus gen. nov., a giant pliosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay. Palaeontology, 2, 39-55. Figure from Newman & Tarlo (1967) showing the articulated hind flipper of the ‘Stewartby Pliosaur’ ( Liopleurodon ferox). It’s a photocopy of a photocopy, hence the terrible quality, so if anyone has a scan I’d be glad to hear from you. Making sense of the Newman & Tarlo reconstruction