aquaticreptiles
of the DINOSAUR AGE
aquaticreptiles
of the DINOSAUR AGE
illustrations by Román
text by Giuseppe
García Mora
Brillante and Anna Cessa
contents
introduction
7
plesioSAURUS
10
MOSASAURUS 26
TYLOSAURUS
28
ICHTHYOSAURUS61 CERESIOSAURUS30
LIOPLEURODON18
PLIOSAURUS
NOTHOSAURUS 20
TANYSTROPHEUS63
ELASMOSAURUS22
HENODUS
32
38
THE TERROR OF THE SEAS
cenozoic
today
QUATERNARY
Origin of Man
1,8 Million years ago
Ice Age
mammals
neogene
SCARIERTHANANYMONSTERBORNOUTOFTHEIMAGINATIVEMINDOFAWRITERORADIRECTOR,
THEGIGANTICREPTILESTHATLIVEDINTHEPREHISTORICANCIENTSEASOFTENCAUSEATHRILL
23 Million years ago
paleogene
Extinction of the dinosaurs
OFTERRORTORUNALONGTHEBACKOFTHOSEWHOLOOKATHEIRFOSSILS.ITISDIFFICULTTO
cretaceous
66 Million years ago
THINKTHATBEASTSSUCHASTHESEREALLYEXISTED.YETITISSO,BUTTHEWORLDATTHEIRTIME
LATE
Gigantic dinosaurs,
Mosasaurus, Tylosaurus
100Millionyearsago
EARLY
ABOUT250MILLIONYEARSAGO,THELANDTHATRAISEDUPWASJOINEDTOGETHERINONE
145Millionyearsago
giurassic
LATE
mesozoic
WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE KNOW TODAY.
Diversification
of Plesiosaurus
163Millionyearsago
middle
174Millionyearsago
EARLY
Wumengosaurus,
ancestor of the
Ichthyosaurus
CONTINENTALMASSKNOWNASTHEPANGEA,ANDEVERYTHINGELSEWASWATER.THESEWATERS
WEREAHABITATTHATSOONCALLEDTOMANYREPTILESTHATHADEVOLVEDONTHEMAINLAND
ANDATTHATPOINTWEREINTHEBESTCONDITIONSTORETURNTOTHESEAS,WHERETHEREWAS
Giant dinosaurs,
Brachiosaurus
LESSCOMPETITIONFORFOOD.THEOCEANSOFTHEJURASSICPERIODSAWTHESEANIMALSLIVE,
REPRODUCE,ANDDIVERSIFYINTOMANYFORMSTOBECOMETHERULERSOFTHEWATERSOFTHE
201Millionyearsago
PLANET.
237Millionyearsago
WHENFOSSILHUNTERSBEGANTOBRINGTOLIGHTTHEIRREMAINSINTHENINETEENTHCENTURY,
triassic
LATE
Origin of aquatic reptiles
middle
WHATTHEYFOUNDWASSOUNUSUALTHATITWASHARDTOBELIEVETHATITCOULDBETRUE.
247Millionyearsago
SINCETHEN,HUNDREDSOFSPECIESANDDIFFERENTKINDSOFAQUATICREPTILESHAVEBEEN
EARLY
252Millionyearsago
Origin of mammals
299Millionyearsago
Reptiles similar
to mammals
PALEOZOIC
PERMIAN
CARBONIFEROUS
FOUND.SOMEFOSSILSARESOUNBELIEVABLETHATTHEYSEEMTOBETRUE“PHOTOGRAPHS”
IMPRINTEDONTHEROCKS.BYSTUDYINGANDANALYZINGTHEM,ASDETECTIVESATACRIMESCENE
First giant
forests
359Millionyearsago
DEVONIAN
silurian
ordovician
419Millionyearsago
DO,PALEONTOLOGISTSHAVERECONSTRUCTEDTHEAPPEARANCE,HABITSANDBEHAVIOROFTHESE
ANIMALS.THEYTELLTHEEXTRAORDINARYSTORIESOFTHESEANIMALSTHATWOULDOTHERWISEBE
LOST IN THE FOLDS OF TIME.
Originofamphibians
443Millionyearsago
485Millionyearsago
cambrian
Trilobites
541Millionyearsago
precambrian
First land plants
Ediacaran fauna
Explosion of life
in the Cambrian Period
AQUATIC REPTILES
7
TODAYWEKNOWTHATTHESIZEOFAQUATICREPTILESCOULDVARYFROMTHATOFADOLPHIN
SOMESPECIESMAYHAVEGONEONTOLANDTOLAYTHEIREGGS,WHILEOTHERSGATHERED
TOTHATOFAHUGEWHALE.THEYWEREALMOSTALWAYSEFFICIENTPREDATORSANDSOMEWERE
SEASONALLYINCOASTALWATERSTHATWERECALMERANDMOREPROTECTEDFROMPREDATORS,
REALLYTERRIFYING.ANEXAMPLEOFTHESEWASTHETYLOSAURUSTHATWITHITSBIGJAWSWAS
WHERETHEYRETURNEDTODELIVERTHEIRYOUNG.SOMEFINDINGSHAVEEVENREVEALEDSCENES
THEEQUIVALENTOFAT-REXINTHEOCEANS.THEMOSASAURUSSHOULDALSOBEMENTIONEDAS
OF DAILY LIFE.
ITCOULDREACHUPTO14METERSINLENGTH.ITWASSOAGGRESSIVETHATEVENMEMBERSOFITS
INGERMANY,FOSSILSOFFEMALEICHTHYSAURUSESWEREFOUNDTHATSTILLHADTHEFETUSES
OWN SPECIES OFTEN ENDED UP IN ITS STOMACH.
INTHEIRBELLY,WHILEINCHINA,AMOTHERDINOSAURTHATDIEDFROMTHECOMPLICATIONSOF
CHILDBIRTHWASDISCOVEREDALONGWITHTHEOTHERBABYDINOSAURSTHATSHEGAVEBIRTH
BUTEVENIFTHESEEXAMPLESWEREPROBABLYSOLITARYHUNTERS,OTHERAQUATICREPTILES
PROBABLY LIVED IN AND MOVED AROUND IN HERDS.
TOANDITWASINTHATPOSITION,TOGETHERWITHHERCHILDRENTHATSHEWASFOUNDBY
PALEONTOLOGISTS.
INNEVADA,UNITEDSTATES,DOZENSOFSHONISAURUSSKELETONSWEREFOSSILIZEDALLINTHE
SAMEDIRECTIONASIFTHEIRDEATHHADOCCURREDWHILETHEYWEREGATHEREDSWIMMING
GENERATIONAFTERGENERATION,THEEXISTENCEOFTHESEAQUATICREPTILESCONTINUED
IN A GROUP.
FORMILLIONSOFYEARS.THENSUDDENLYSOMETHINGDISTURBEDTHEIRWORLD.FOLLOWING
THEIMPACTOFAMETEORITEONEARTH,THESEGIGANTICANIMALSSUFFEREDTHESAME
FATEASTHEDINOSAURSANDLIKETHEMDISAPPEAREDFOREVERBECOMING
EXTINCT.
AQUATIC REPTILES
9
plesioSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
The Seas of Northern Europe
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Dorset (United Kingdom), Germany
WHEN IT LIVED:
205 to 65 million years ago
T
oday we know that it was a marine reptile
from the Jurassic Period, but when the fossil
was reconstructed in full, it was realized that
it would not be easy to understand its behavior. For
this reason, the first hypotheses on how it lived
and its daily habits were quite imaginative.
According to some scholars, they could “coil up”
their neck like a snake, while others argued that
they were able to walk on land. Over time,
scientists have put together a more
accurate identikit and these assumptions
today almost make us smile. Plesiosaurus
hadASMALLHEAD, a mouth filled with SHARP
TEETH and four legs that over time had become
TRUE FINS used to swim in a manner similar
to an underwater flight.
SIZE:
up to 5 meters in length
and 1.5 meters tall
WEIGHT:
from 500 kilograms to 2 tons
I
t looked like a “SEA DRAGON”
from legends in Medieval times.
When the remains of this
large animal were discovered
in 1823, nobody had ever seen a
creature like it, and the geologist and
paleontologist William Conybeare described
it as “a snake that passes through a
turtle shell.” They later chose the name
PLESIOSAURUS for it, a name which means
“RELATED TO LIZARDS.”
AQUATIC REPTILES 11
plesioSAURus
PLESIOSAURUS HAS SPARKED THE IMAGINATION OF PEOPLE SO MUCH THAT IT WAS
I
ts neck was long and slender and the animal used it to approach prey
without them noticing. It fed on fish, cephalopods and other small
aquatic reptiles. It is almost certain that, because of its long neck and
body size, it was not able to move around on the sand, even to lay eggs,
as some scholars have claimed. A surprising discovery made a few years
ago allowed scholars to discover that Plesiosaurus was VIVIPAROUS, that
it gave birth to its young and that it did it in the water, which was the
its habitat. A fossil, unearthed in Kansas (United States) in 1987, still had
the fetus in its belly. This “PREHISTORIC MOTHER” did not survive to give
birth and so the fetus died and was fossilized with her.
EVEN SUGGESTED THAT it DID NOT BECOME EXTINCT AND WAS STILL ALIVE
IN PLACES THAT WERE INACCESSIBLE TO HUMANS. AS EVIDENCE OF THIS, A PHOTO
WAS PRODUCED THAT HAD BEEN TAKEN IN 1934 ON THE BANKS OF LOCH NESS IN SCOTLAND,
WHEREAMYSTERIOUS CREATURE SIMILAR TOAPLESIOSAURUS COULD BE SEEN WITH ITS
LONG NECK OUT OF THE WATER AND WHICH LOCALS HAD GIVEN THE NICKNAME NESSIE.
OVERTHEYEARS,MANYHAVETRIEDTOFINDTHISANIMALBYPROBINGTHEDEPTHSOFTHELAKE,
BUT OF COURSE, NO ONE HAS EVER FOUND ANY TRACE. THE REASON IS SIMPLE:
PLESIOSAURUS BECAME EXTINCT IN THE LATE CRETACEOUS PERIOD AS THE RESULT
OF THE CATASTROPHIC IMPACT OF A METEORITE, THE SAME EVENT
THAT ENDED THE LONG HISTORY OF THE DINOSAURS.
AQUATIC REPTILES 13
ichthyoSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
Europe and Asia
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Lyme Regis (United Kingdom), Holzmaden (Germany)
WHEN IT LIVED:
160 to 100 million years ago
T
he truth came out when other specimens
were discovered and Mary became one of the
most famous FOSSIL HUNTERS in Europe,
although official scientists continued to keep
her on the sidelines because at that time women
were not granted such important roles in research.
Ichthyosaurus was not gigantic, it barely
reached two meters long. LACKING GILLS meant
it had to go back up to the surface to breathe,
but it was skilled hunter and, thanks to its
hydrodynamic shape, it could reach almost
50 km/h while swimming.
It fed on fish and shellfish, in
particular on PHOLIDOPHORUS
(similar to today’s herring) and
BELEMNITES
(distant relatives of cuttlefish and squid).
How do we know what it ate?
Scholars have found their remains in coprolites,
the fossilized feces of Ichthyosaurus.
SIZE:
from 2 to 3 meters in length
WEIGHT:
up to 1 tons
I
t moved around the seas during the Jurassic period and it
was a strange cross between a dolphin and a crocodile.
Ichthyosaurus is perhaps the best known of the marine
reptiles. It was first found in the early 19th century by MARY
ANNING, an English woman of humble origins who could barely
read and write, but searched for fossils as a livelihood trying
to sell them as souvenirs to tourists on the cliffs near
thetownofLymeRegis.TheREPTILESKELETONthat
she unearthed was so strange that at the time many
scholars did not believe in her discovery and
accused her of having constructed a fake fossil
by putting together
pieces of different
animals.
INITIALLYITWASBELIEVEDTHATICHTHYOSAURUSLAIDEGGS.
BUT THEN A NUMBER OF EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERIES
BEGAN TO TELL A DIFFERENT STORY.
INHOLZMADEN,GERMANY,THEFOSSILSKELETONSOFFEMALE
ICHTHYOSAURUSWEREBROUGHTTOLIGHTHAVINGDIEDWITH
THEIRFETUSESSTILLINTHEWOMBOREVENWHILETHEYWERE
GIVINGBIRTH.ITWASTHEREFOREREALIZEDTHAT,ALTHOUGH
THEY WERE REPTILES, THEY DID NOT
LAY EGGS BUT GAVE BIRTH IN SHALLOW
WATERS TO FETUSES THAT WERE
ALREADY DEVELOPED.
AQUATIC REPTILES 17
liopleurodon
WHERE IT LIVED:
Europe
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
France (Boulogne-sur-Mer and Caen), United Kingdom, Russia
WHEN IT LIVED:
160 to 155 million years ago
L
ike today’s whales, to breathe it needed air
and was forced to return to the surface,
but it never left the water, not even to lay
eggs, because it was incapable of moving on
land. How large was it? We do not know for
sure. The study of majority of the known
fossils seems to indicate a size of about
7 meters in length, but the remains
of some specimens found in recent
years suggest that it could
even be MORE THAN
10 METERS LONG.
SIZE:
from 7 to 10 meters in length
WEIGHT:
between 5 and 15 tons
I
t was aVORACIOUS PREDATOR, one of the most feared
among the prehistoric reptiles that inhabited the seas
of the planet. Its head measured more than a meter in
length and its mouth, full of sharp protruding
teeth, twice as long as that of a T-Rex, was
a terrible deadly weapon. It mainly fed
on Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus and large
fish which it identified from even tens
of kilometers away with its SENSITIVE
NOSE, capable of analyzing the water
in search of the odors of its prey.
It chased them by swimming quickly thanks to its
legs, which functioned as large oars, and reduced them
to pieces with its bite that was powerful enough
to kill in seconds.
IN 2003, SOME STUDENTS IN MEXICO FOUND THE FOSSILIZED
REMAINS OFAGIANT REPTILE THATALIVE COULD HAVE MEASURED
MORE THAN 15 METERS LONG (ONLY THE HEAD WAS MORE THAN
TWOANDAHALFMETERSLONG).THISISTHESO-CALLEDMONSTER
OFARAMBERRI. IT WAS INITIALLYSUGGESTED THAT IT
WASANEXAMPLEOFAYOUNGLIOPLEURODON
AND ISWHATMADE SCHOLARS
THINK THAT THESE ANIMALS
COULDREACHENORMOUSSIZES
INADULTHOOD.TODAY,HOWEVER,
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT IT IS MORE
LIKELYTHATTHE MONSTER OFARAMBERRI
BELONGS TO A DIFFERENT SPECIES,
PERHAPS A PLIOSAURUS.
AQUATIC REPTILES 19
nothoSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
North Africa, Europe, China
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Germany
I
t was not clear how Nothosaurus swam, until
the discovery in China in 2014, of a number
of fossilized footprints on an ancient path
on the seabed. The tracks are ARRANGED
IN PAIRS, in long series of ten or fifteen.
The size and the space between the tracks
suggest that they were left by the front legs
of these animals and they demonstrate
that they swam by moving their limbs
in unison downwardly like paddles
(instead of laterally as penguins
do today, for example).
WHEN IT LIVED:
240 million years ago
SIZE:
up to 4 meters in length
WEIGHT:
from 20 to 100 kilograms
A
bout 240 million years ago, NOTHOSAURUS
was among the most common marine
reptiles in the oceans. It had sharp teeth
and was voracious SEMI-AQUATIC PREDATOR: it
probably lived like seals do today. It was actually only
partially adapted to life at sea, with a long body,
but rather short legs and was possibly equipped
with a membrane between their toes. According to
scientists, it sometimes returned to land. Nothosaurus
probably did so to lay eggs and certainly when it
wanted to rest or had to escape other marine reptiles
that were larger than it was.
IN ITALY, MANY FOSSILS OF NOTHOSAURUS
HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO LIGHT IN BESANO, IN THE AREA OF
MONTE SAN GIORGIO, IN THE PROVINCE OF VARESE.
HERE, MILLIONS OF YEARSAGO,AVARIETY OF SPECIES PROBABLY
COEXISTED THAT WERE ALSO OF DIFFERENT SIZES GIVEN THAT
SOME FINDINGS HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED AS BELONGING
TO NOTHOSAURUS GIGANTEUS WHILE OTHERS BELONG
TO THE SMALLER NOTHOSAURUS JUVENILIS.
AQUATIC REPTILES 21
elasmoSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
No r t h A m e r i c a
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Kansas (Usa)
B
ut how long could it go without
resurfacing for a breath (apnea)? It is hard
to say for sure. We can only speculate.
Considering the size and relative capacity of the
lungs, it is believed that it could have stayed
underwater for about fifteen minutes, then
had to re-surface again to fill up its oxygen supply.
It was not even a very good swimmer.
It moved slowly by pushing itself
along with FOUR LEGSTRANSFORMED
INTO FINS, a little like how the turtles
of today move. But the sea was its
kingdom and its ambushes were
almost always fatal.
WHEN IT LIVED:
80 million years ago
SIZE:
up to 14-15 meters in length
WEIGHT:
between 2 and 3 tons
I
t was one of the first marine reptiles ever found. It was an animal with such
an unusual look that paleontologists, while trying to put together the bones of the
skeleton in 1869, put its little head on the tail instead of on the neck, as it was
difficult to imagine at that time that a living being could have had SUCH A LONG
NECK (it is made up of as many as 71 VERTEBRAE, while the TAIL had
ONLY 18). It was so cumbersome and heavy that it could not keep
it straight outside of the water (its muscles would not have
been sufficiently strong enough). It was content to bring
its nostrils and mouth out of the water for what
little time it needed to breathe, because, being
areptile,itDIDNOTHAVEGILLS like fish and,
consequently, had to return to the surface
for a breath of air before continuing on
its search for prey.
ACCORDINGTO SCHOLARS, BECAUSE ITWAS NOTAFASTSWIMMER, IN ORDERTO
PROCUREITSMEAL,THEELASMOSAURUSUSEDATECHNIQUETHATALLOWEDIT,
DESPITE ITS SIZE, NOT TO BE SEEN. IT MOVED FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE
SEAFLOOR UPWARDS, SO THAT ITS BODYWASALMOST INVISIBLEAGAINSTTHE
DARKBACKGROUNDOFTHEABYSSALDEPTHS,WHILETHESILHOUETTESOFITSPREY
ABOVEITWEREEASILYIDENTIFIABLEASTHEYWERESILHOUETTEDINTHELIGHT
FROMTHESURFACEOFTHESEA.ITAPPROACHEDSILENTLYWITHITSLONGNECK
AND GRABBED ITS VICTIM SUDDENLY, THUS AVOIDING HAVING TO CHASE
ANIMALS FASTER THAN ITSELF.
AQUATIC REPTILES 23
mosaSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
Europe, North America
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Mount Saint Peter (Holland), United States of America
WHEN IT LIVED:
I
t could reach up to 14 meters in length and
was so aggressive that it not only fed on large
marine animals, but it did not even spare its
own kind.Although it was a GOOD SWIMMER
(thanks to its legs that were transformed into
fins and its flat tail), it captured its prey
above all by lurking, waiting for the fish,
ammonites and other cephalopods that
it fed on to approach it while it was still
in the darkness of the deep sea, and at
that point it bit them with a lightning fast strike
that almost never let them escape.
70 to 65 million years ago
SIZE:
up to 14 meters in length
WEIGHT:
up to 5 tons
I
n the movie “Jurassic World,” which tells of a theme park whose
attractions are giant prehistoric reptiles brought back to life thanks to
science, there is a scene in which a MOSASAURUS jumps out of a giant
swimming pool and devours a large shark hanging from a rope in a single
bite, in front of hundreds of people frightened by its appearance.
Hollywoodimagination
aside, the Mosasaurus
was truly terrifying.
It had LONG JAWS, like
those of crocodiles today,
and a body covered in scales (we
know this because several specimens
were found in Jordan in 2009
containing fossilized skin).
RECENTRESEARCHCONDUCTEDBYSWEDISHANDAMERICAN
SCHOLARS ON FOSSILIZED FRAGMENTS OF SKINTHATHAVE
PRESERVED TRACES OF PIGMENTS HAVE FOUND
THAT MOSASAURUS WAS DARK COLORED.
THIS ENABLED ITTO REACH HIGHER BODYTEMPERATURES
AND WARM UPMORE QUICKLYIN THE SUN BETWEEN DIVES
(THISWASANADAPTATIONTHATALLOWED ITTO LIVE EVEN
IN VERY COLD SEAS), AS WELL TO BE LESS
VISIBLE TO THE EYES OF ITS PREY.
AQUATIC REPTILES 27
tyloSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
North America
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Kansas (Usa)
WHEN IT LIVED:
85 to 73 million years ago
S
ometimes, to chase its prey, it
immersed itself all the way down
into the abyssal depths, but signs
found on the bones of some remains of
Tylosaurus were found evidencing the
typical marks left by diseases related
to decompression, demonstrating that
it was not particularly suited to hunting
in such extreme environments.
It actually preferred shallow
coastal areas.
And it was in an environment like this, once
upon a time, that a Tylosaurus bit into a large
herbivorous dinosaur: a Hadrosaurus that had
immersed itself in the water. Paleontologists
found its bones with bite marks left by the
teeth of this marine reptile. We will never
know for sure whether the Hadrosaurus
was alive or dead when the TYLOSAURUS
attacked, as these reptiles were not even
frightened by the most giant dinosaurs of
the time.
SIZE:
more than 14 meters in length
WEIGHT:
more than 10 tons
I
n the stomach of some TYLOSAURUS specimens, the
remains of huge fish, Plesiosaurus, Mosasaurus, sharks
and giant squid were found. These findings speak
volumes about its aggressiveness and power.
As large as a bus, it was a kind of T-Rex of the seas.
Its look was unmistakable: its long snout ended in
a BEAK that it used to break through the body of its
victims, as ancient Roman ships did with enemy ships.
It was an efficient swimmer which moved thanks
to the thrust of its paddle-shaped legs and long tail
that was flattened vertically, providing
it with a driving force and speed
unthinkable for such a giant.
FOR A LONG TIME, TYLOSAURUS WAS REPRESENTED WITH A RIDGE
THAT RAN ALONG ITS BODY, FROM ITS HEAD TO ITS TAIL.
WE NOW KNOWTHIS WASAN ERROR. PALEONTOLOGISTS HAD NOTICED
THE REMAINS OF CARTILAGE IN A FOSSIL OF THIS SPECIES,
BUT IT WAS THE IMPRESSION LEFT BY THE ANIMAL’S TRACHEA,
WHICH IS ONLY RARELY PRESERVED, AND NOT
THAT LEFT BY A DORSAL RIDGE.
AQUATIC REPTILES 29
ceresioSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
Italy, Switzerland
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Monte San Giorgio (Italy)
WHEN IT LIVED:
240 million years ago
SIZE:
up to 4 meters in length
T
here would have been islets and sandbars
that separated the coast from the open
waters and would have created a large
coastal lagoon, a landscape that would have
been similar to that of the Bahamas or the
Maldives today. This was the habitat where
Ceresiosaurus lived and hunted. On the day that
it ended becoming a fossil, something did not
go the right way and the killer and its victims
died together. Their bodies ended up on
the seabed, where they were covered with
mud. The rest was taken care of by time: over
millennia, their bones were transformed
into FOSSILS which scholars
then rediscovered.
WEIGHT:
200 to 300 kilograms
O
ne of the best known fossils of this species is truly unique: on
the same slab of rock, seven small skeletons of Neusticosaurus
and a large example of a Ceresiosaurus are found together.
It looks like a peaceful “snapshot” from the distant past, but it is
instead the remains of a prehistoric drama, probably a hunting scene.
CERESIOSAURUS was the predator and those little Neusticosaurus
would have been its prey. They were found
in Monte San Giorgio (on the border
between Italy and Switzerland) which
at that time, about 240 million
years ago, was not yet a
mountain, but the seabed
of a shallow sea.
THIS HUGE LIZARD SWAM QUICKLY IN SEARCH
OF ITS PREY, GRABBING IT WITH SHARP TEETH.
ITS HIND LEGS, LONGER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN THE
FRONT ONES, GAVE IT GREATER THRUST DURING THE HUNT.
THE FAVORITE VICTIMS OF CERESIOSAURUS
WERE OTHER AQUATIC REPTILES
OR SMALL FISH.
AQUATIC REPTILES 31
plioSAURus
WHERE IT LIVED:
In all of the seas on Earth
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom)
and Svalbard (Norway)
G
iven its size, to not consume too
much energy, it moved slowly,
using only its front fins until it
identified its prey. Then, by moving its rear
fins, it increased its speed unbelievably
until it reached its target.
Its TEETH, MORE THAN 30 CM LONG
and its large jaws gave it a bite that
had DEVASTATING POWER (according to
scholars, it was four times more powerful
than that of a T-Rex). This was how it was
able to kill even very large animals without
difficulty, animals which it probably
swallowed whole.
WHEN IT LIVED:
160 to 140 million years ago
SIZE:
up to 13 meters in length
WEIGHT:
up to 45 tons
IN2007,NORWEGIANPALEONTOLOGISTSHADALREADY
UNEARTHED AGIGANTIC PLIOSAURUS IN SVALBARD,
WHICH THEY HAD CALLED “THE MONSTER.”
IT DOES NOT TAKE MUCH TO IMAGINE THE
REASON FOR THIS NAME. IT WAS 10 TO
12 METERS IN LENGTHAND ITS LEGS,
TRANSFORMED INTO FINS,WEREAT
LEASTTHREE METERS LONG. THIS
W
hen researchers found the fossilized
remains of this dinosaur in the Arctic
archipelago of Svalbard, they named
it PREDATOR X (its scientific name is Pliosaurus funkei).
With a length that would have been around 13 meters, it was
one of the biggest marine reptiles that ever lived. Its skull,
three meters long by itself, contained a brain that was larger
than that of a white shark in modern times, but the
Pliosaurus’ aggressiveness was far superior.
RECORDWASTHENSNATCHEDAWAY
IN 2008 BY THE DISCOVERY OF
PREDATOR X.THE BONES OF BOTH
SPECIMENS,HOWEVER,DUETOTHE
HARSHCLIMATEOFSVALBARD,WERE
FRAGMENTED INTO HUNDREDS OF PIECES AND HAS MADE THE JOB OF SCIENTISTS
TO REBUILD THEM VERY DIFFICULT, ALMOST AS IF IT WERE A GIANT PUZZLE.
AQUATIC REPTILES 33
tanystropheus
WHERE IT LIVED:
Italy, Switzerland (German part)
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Besano (Italy)
WHEN IT LIVED:
230 million years ago
SIZE:
up to 6 meters in length
WEIGHT:
up to 200 kilograms
I
ts neck was so disproportionate to the rest of the body (making up half of
its total length) that it has been given the nickname of “GIRAFFE-REPTILE.”
Some of the most important fossils have been found in Italy, in Besano, near
Varese. For a long time, its bizarre appearance created more than one question
for paleontologists who were trying to figure out the behavioral habits of this animal
and could not understand if it was aquatic or terrestrial. Today, the question
seems to have finally found an answer. According to scholars, TANYSTROPHEUS
swam in the shallow waters of prehistoric marine lagoons, moving by undulating its
tail and the trunk of its body. It used its long hind legs as big fins and its neck as
a kind of rudder to change direction. It hunted for small fish, mollusks, squid and
shellfish (remains of these foods were found in the stomach of some fossil specimens
found in Switzerland), which it captured with its mouth filled with many small
POINTED TEETH. Even though it lived mostly in the sea, it occasionally returned
to land, especially when laying its eggs.
ATTHEBEGINNINGOFTHETWENTIETHCENTURY,SCHOLARSWHOANALYZEDTHEFIRSTFOSSILS
OF TANYSTROPHEUS MISTOOK IT FOR A FLYING REPTILE. WHAT CONFUSED THEM WAS
THE PRESENCE OF LONG BONES THAT LOOKED LIKE THE PHALANGES OFAFINGER SIMILAR TOA
PATAGIUM(I.E.THEMEMBRANEFOUNDINWINGS)OFSOMEPREHISTORICANIMALSTHATCOULDFLY.
SUBSEQUENT FINDS CLARIFIED THAT THESE BONES WERE ACTUALLY
THE VERTEBRAE OF ITS LONG, ASTONISHING NECK.
AQUATIC REPTILES 37
henodus
WHERE IT LIVED:
Europe
WHERE THE MOST IMPORTANT FOSSILS WERE FOUND:
Germany
WHEN IT LIVED:
H
ENODUS probably spent its life in the
quiet waters of coastal marshes, where
its strange flat jaw that was almost
toothless(ithadONLYFOURTEETH)allowed
it to sift the muddy bottom of the marsh to
search for crustaceans which it ate. It is not
out of the question that it had a BALEEN-
LIKE structures in its mouth (similar to that
of modern whales), which it used to filter the
water and retain small prey. It breathed air
and had a partly amphibious existence.
In fact, it often returned to land to rest and
reproduce although itsARMOR PLATE made
its movements on land rather awkward.
225 million years ago
SIZE:
more than 1 meter in length
WEIGHT:
up to 150 kilograms
HENODUS’ ARMOR
PLATE WAS MADE FROM
THE FUSION OFALARGE NUMBER OF
I
t is probably one of the strangest animals that have ever
appeared on the planet. Its appearance was truly unique.
Its head was so flattened and crushed that it seemed to
come straight out of a press, while its body, wider than it
was long, was characterized by a LARGE ARMOR
PLATE on its back that made it look like a turtle
even if, in reality, it was not even a distant
relative of this animal.
This enigmatic creature made
PALEONTOLOGISTSlosesleep
and even today, its lifestyle is
not known for certain. Why did it
look the way it did? What was its peculiar
shaped skull used for? These are the two questions
that scholars have asked themselves for some time.
There are naturally a number of different hypotheses.
BONEPLATES.THEYFORMEDASTURDY
SHELL THAT PROTECTED IT FROM
its ENEMIES, EVEN THOSE WITH THE
MOST POWERFUL BITES.
THIS DEFENSE STRATEGY HAD
ONLY ONE WEAKNESS: UNLIKE TURTLES
TODAY, HENODUS WAS NOT ABLE TO
retract ITS LEGSAND HEAD INSIDE THE
ARMOR, LEAVING THEM EXPOSED AND
VULNERABLE. GENERALLY, HOWEVER,
IN THE HEAT OF AN ATTACK IN WATER,
PREDATORS AIMED AT THE BIGGER TARGET,
THE BODY, AND ONLY RARELY
AT THE EXTREMITIES. THIS ALLOWED
HENODUS TO SURVIVE IN MOST CASES.
AQUATIC REPTILES 39
Attracted since childhood by both art and science, ROMÁN GARCÍAMORAgraduated in biology. After his studies, he decided to unite the two fields that fascinated him and specialized in scientific illustration, devoting himself in particular to paleontological reconstruction, above all of dinosaurs. Román has received several international awards in this field.
He has worked for several scientific journals such as “PM Bilde Quo” and collaborates with
various publishers and illustrated scientific publications, along with researchers from several Spanish institutions.
giuseppe brillante is a journalist, currently responsible for the Italian editions of the
“BBC Science” and “BBC History” magazines. He has written scientific and naturalistic articles and reports for several newspapers. He has often worked in the field of paleontology
and also collaborated on the book “Italian Dinosaurs.”
annacessahas always been passionate about paleontology. She specializes in scientific
and naturalistic publishing, collaborates with “BBC History” and has many years of experience in teaching.
Graphic Design by valentina
Graphic Rendering by maria
figus
cucchi
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