Post by poseidon on Jul 31, 2021 14:08:39 GMT -5
Predator x
Pliosaurus (meaning 'more lizard') is an extinct genus of thalassophonean pliosaurid known from the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages (Late Jurassic) of Europe and South America. Their diet would have included fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles. This genus has contained many species in the past but recent reviews found only eleven to be valid, while the validity of two additional species awaits a petition to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Pliosaurus currently consists of the type species P. brachydeirus, and also P. brachyspondylus, P. carpenteri, P. funkei, P. kevani, P. macromerus, P. rossicus and P. westburyensis, as well as the invalid P. portentificus. Using Liopleurodon, another large pliosaurid, as a guide, a specimen found in the Svalbard islands of northern Europe has been estimated to have been 15 metres (49 ft) long, 45,000 kilograms (99,000 lb) in weight and had teeth 30 centimetres (12 in) long. It is estimated to have lived approximately 147 million years ago. Later on, thorough scrutiny of this Svalbard specimen revealed that it was not as massive as originally claimed; total length estimates have been revised to 10–13 metres (33–43 ft) and was named Pliosaurus funkei in Knutsen et al. 2012, with estimated skull lengths of 160–200 cm and a forelimb length of 300 cm for the holotype (PMO 214.135), and an estimated skull length of 200–250 cm for the referred specimen (PMO 214.136), suggesting that the animal had proportionally bigger flippers than other pliosaurs compared to the skull size and dimensions of the vertebrae. This estimate has since been questioned due to the smaller size of P. funkei vertebrae in comparison to Kronosaurus, which was used to obtain the 10–13 metres (33–43 ft) estimate. Analysis of bones from the four flippers suggest that the animal cruised using just two fore-flippers, using the back pair for extra speed when pursuing and capturing prey. P. funkei brain was of a similar type and size, proportionally, to that of today's great white shark.
Mosasaurus Hoffmanni
The type species, M. hoffmannii, is one of the largest mosasaurs known, though knowledge of its skeleton remains incomplete as it is mainly known from skulls. Russell (1967) wrote that the length of the jaw equalled one tenth of the body length in the species.[34] Based on this ratio, Grigoriev (2014) used the largest lower jaw attributed to M. hoffmannii (CCMGE 10/2469, also known as the Penza specimen; measuring 171 centimeters (67 in) in length) to estimate a maximum length of 17.1 meters (56 ft).[40] Using a smaller partial jaw (NHMM 009002) measuring 90 centimeters (35 in) and "reliably estimated at" 160 centimeters (63 in) when complete, Lingham-Soliar (1995) estimated a larger maximum length of 17.6 meters (58 ft) via the same ratio. No explicit justification for the 1:10 ratio was provided in Russell (1967). In 2014, Federico Fanti and colleagues alternatively argued that the total length of M. hoffmannii was more likely closer to seven times the length of the skull, which was based on a near-complete skeleton of the related species Prognathodon overtoni. The study estimated that an M. hoffmannii individual with a skull measuring 144 centimeters (57 in) would have measured 11 meters (36 ft) long or more.
Pliosaurus (meaning 'more lizard') is an extinct genus of thalassophonean pliosaurid known from the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages (Late Jurassic) of Europe and South America. Their diet would have included fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles. This genus has contained many species in the past but recent reviews found only eleven to be valid, while the validity of two additional species awaits a petition to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Pliosaurus currently consists of the type species P. brachydeirus, and also P. brachyspondylus, P. carpenteri, P. funkei, P. kevani, P. macromerus, P. rossicus and P. westburyensis, as well as the invalid P. portentificus. Using Liopleurodon, another large pliosaurid, as a guide, a specimen found in the Svalbard islands of northern Europe has been estimated to have been 15 metres (49 ft) long, 45,000 kilograms (99,000 lb) in weight and had teeth 30 centimetres (12 in) long. It is estimated to have lived approximately 147 million years ago. Later on, thorough scrutiny of this Svalbard specimen revealed that it was not as massive as originally claimed; total length estimates have been revised to 10–13 metres (33–43 ft) and was named Pliosaurus funkei in Knutsen et al. 2012, with estimated skull lengths of 160–200 cm and a forelimb length of 300 cm for the holotype (PMO 214.135), and an estimated skull length of 200–250 cm for the referred specimen (PMO 214.136), suggesting that the animal had proportionally bigger flippers than other pliosaurs compared to the skull size and dimensions of the vertebrae. This estimate has since been questioned due to the smaller size of P. funkei vertebrae in comparison to Kronosaurus, which was used to obtain the 10–13 metres (33–43 ft) estimate. Analysis of bones from the four flippers suggest that the animal cruised using just two fore-flippers, using the back pair for extra speed when pursuing and capturing prey. P. funkei brain was of a similar type and size, proportionally, to that of today's great white shark.
Mosasaurus Hoffmanni
The type species, M. hoffmannii, is one of the largest mosasaurs known, though knowledge of its skeleton remains incomplete as it is mainly known from skulls. Russell (1967) wrote that the length of the jaw equalled one tenth of the body length in the species.[34] Based on this ratio, Grigoriev (2014) used the largest lower jaw attributed to M. hoffmannii (CCMGE 10/2469, also known as the Penza specimen; measuring 171 centimeters (67 in) in length) to estimate a maximum length of 17.1 meters (56 ft).[40] Using a smaller partial jaw (NHMM 009002) measuring 90 centimeters (35 in) and "reliably estimated at" 160 centimeters (63 in) when complete, Lingham-Soliar (1995) estimated a larger maximum length of 17.6 meters (58 ft) via the same ratio. No explicit justification for the 1:10 ratio was provided in Russell (1967). In 2014, Federico Fanti and colleagues alternatively argued that the total length of M. hoffmannii was more likely closer to seven times the length of the skull, which was based on a near-complete skeleton of the related species Prognathodon overtoni. The study estimated that an M. hoffmannii individual with a skull measuring 144 centimeters (57 in) would have measured 11 meters (36 ft) long or more.