Terrifying Prehistoric Sea Monsters
by LynnFromMsia · a day ago
Styxosaurus Styxosaurus was an elasmosaur, a long-necked variety of the plesiosaurs. These sea monsters grew upwards of 40 feet (12 meters) long. Like all plesiosaurs, Styxosaurus's limbs were two pairs of flipper-like paddles, which it moved in a figure eight motion to fly through the water much as seals and sea lions do today. In some cases hundreds of stones, called gastroliths, have been found associated with the bellies of these sea monsters, suggesting they swallowed the stones to help with digestion or perhaps provide ballast as they swam. Source: animals.nationalgeographic.com
Dunkleosteus Dunkleosteus was a 30 foot long carnivorous tank. It was outlasted by sharks, but I am sure that is small consolation for the variety of creatures this beast ate. Instead of teeth, it had bony ridges, like a turtle. It has been calculated that they had a bite force of 8,000 pounds per square inch, putting it on par with crocodiles and T-Rex in terms of being history’s strongest biters. They also believe, based on the evidence in the skull regarding its musculature, that it could have opened its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, meaning it vacuumed food into its guillotine of a mouth. The plates that made up the “teeth” changed as the fish aged from a solid, rigid jaw to segments that allowed it to hold prey easier, and made it more effective in biting through the bony plate armor of other armored fish. In the arms race that was the prehistoric ocean, Dunleosteus was a predatory super tank. Source: toptenz.net
Jaekelopterus rhenaniae Nothing about the words “sea scorpion” are comforting to begin with, so this should not come off as too awful: this was one of the two largest arthropods to have ever lived, reaching a length of over 8 feet of armored, clawed horror. Most of us freak out at the thought of inch-long ants and foot wide spiders, so it’s easy to imagine screaming like a little girl if you ever stumbled across a living one of these. On the plus side, sea scorpions (Euripterids) have been extinct since before the dinosaurs, having been wiped out in the Permian Triassic extinction event (which killed 90% of all life on earth) and are only survived, to some degree, by horseshoe crabs, which are even less formidable than regular crabs. There is no evidence that any sea scorpions were actually venomous, but the structure of their tail is similar to a modern scorpion’s, so it might have been. Source: toptenz.net
Dakosaurus Dakosaurus was first discovered in Germany and, with its odd reptilian-yet-fishy body, was one of the top predators in the sea during the Jurassic period. Fossil remains have been found across a very widespread distribution, turning up everywhere from England to Russia to Argentina. Though it is commonly compared to modern crocs, Dakosaurus could reach a length of 16 feet (5m). Its unique teeth have led scientists to consider it an apex predator during its reign of terror. Source: listverse.com
Liopleurodon If Jurassic Park had an aquarium scene, and actually featured more animals from the Jurassic period, liopleurodon probably would have been in it. Although the actual length of these beasts is contested (some scientists have claimed lengths in excess of 50’), most agree that it was around 20 feet in length, with a full fifth of that being pointy-toothed head. When the mouth of the “smaller” estimate is still plenty large to eat you whole, I think that is perfectly huge enough. It mostly lived in the seas that covered Europe during this period. Scientists have tested the paddle design of these creatures on small swimming robots and found that although they would not have been incredibly fast, they were incredibly agile. They also would have been able to make short, fast burst attacks like crocodiles, which in no way makes them any less intimidating. Sources: toptenz.net, listverse.com
Tanystropheus While Tanystropheus was not strictly marine, its diet was mainly fish and scientists think it spent most of its time in the water. Tanystropheus was a reptile that could reach 20 feet (6m) long, and it is thought to have been alive during the Triassic period nearly 215 million years ago. Source: listverse.com
Kronosaurus Kronosaurus is another short-necked pliosaur (like Liopleurodon up at number 9), and like Liopleurodon, its overall length has been contested. It was a “mere” 30 feet long and the longest teeth in its massive mouth were up to 11 inches long. This is why it was named after Cronus, the king of the old Greek Titans. Guess where it lived? If you guessed “Australia”, then you have been paying attention to life (and are correct). The head was up to 9 feet long. They could eat an entire modern man whole, and still have room left over for half of another. It has also been suggested that since their flippers are so similar in design to those of modern sea turtles, that they may have crawled out onto land to lay eggs. You can be sure no one was digging up these thing’s nests to get at the eggs. Source: toptenz.net
Helicoprion These sharks grew to be about 15 feet long, and had a lower jaw that was made of a “tooth whorl”. It looks like a cross between a circular saw and a shark, and when you mix apex predators with power tools, the world quakes in fear. Helicoprion’s teeth were serrated, implying that they were definitely carnivores, but there is some debate as to whether their teeth were in the front of the mouth, as shown in the picture, or if they were farther back, which would suggest a softer diet, like jellyfish. However it was arranged, it clearly worked; Helicoprion survived the Permian Triassic extinction, which means they may have been smart enough to create bomb shelters. Or maybe they just lived in the deep sea. Source: toptenz.net
Mauisaurus Mauisaurus was named after the Maori god Maui, who pulled the islands of New Zealand up from the sea floor with a fish hook, so already you know this thing is going to be enormous. The neck of Mauisaurus measured up to 49 feet long; the longest proportionate (and really, “actual”) neck of any living thing aside from some sauropod dinosaurs. Their overall length was about 66 feet, and that ridiculously long neck had plenty of vertebrae, implying that it was flexible. Imagine a snake strung through a sea turtle with no shell, and you have an approximate idea of what this thing looked like. Source: toptenz.net
Mosasaurus If the Liopleurodon was huge, than Mosasaurus was colossal. Fossil evidence suggests that Mosasaurus could reach as much as 50 feet (15m) in length, making it one of the largest marine predators of the Cretaceous period. Mosasaurus’s head was like that of a crocodile, lined with hundreds of razor sharp teeth which could kill even the most well-armored enemies. Source: listverse.com
So if we increase the earths oxygen levels, our future selves would be all 10 foot avatar beings with horse dikks
