ExtinctZoo - The Time When Sharks Were The Least Of Your Worries

Episode Date: November 30, 2024

Some 150,000,000 Years Ago, before the Bull Shark, the Great White, or the Megalodon, there was... the Pliosaurus

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Co-Pilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at M365Copilot.com slash work. You, like many others, might be hesitant to venture into the ocean, and for good reason, knowing that sharks, questionable fish, sepulopods, stinging jellyfish, and other things lurk at every level of the abyss. However, present-day waters, for the most part, are nothing compared to those that existed during the Mesozoic, especially the Jurassic period. Back then, sharks were still present and widespread. Yet they weren't the top dogs, nor were they even close to it, and actually may have been a welcome to sight when compared to the other inhabitants.

As lurking in the waters, you not only had the carnivorous ichthyosaurs everywhere, but also, in my opinion, the most terrifying group of aquatic animals ever, the pliosaurs. This family of predatory marine reptiles were members of the Pleasiosaur order, and were distinctive due to the possession of massive heads, streamlined bodies, and short necks. During the Jurassic, they were without a doubt the undisputed kings of the waters, with many of them ending up as their environment's respective apex predator. But of course, like every group of animals, there were levels to this, and some pliosaurs were simply more successful and deadlier than the rest.

In approximately 155 million years ago, during the late Jurassic, the world saw the emergence of one of the biggest and baddest pliosaurs to ever live, who might as well be called the Jaws of the Jurassic, the pliosaurs. Now, if you watched walking with dinosaurs as a kid, You may be wondering at this point why I didn't say Lyoplurodon instead, a 25 meter or 82-foot titan weighing it at 150 tons, at least according to the documentary. And this size would definitely make it a contender for the title.

However, this brings me no joy to say, but since the release of the documentary, it turns out that Lyoplodon was far, far smaller than originally stated, with the largest known specimen being estimated to have been 8 meters or 26 feet, and weighed 7.8 tons. At this size, it was still a giant aquatic creature that you would not want to mess with, but it was perhaps not the supreme being that it was painted out to be. And within its own environment, it wasn't even the biggest predator around.

With that title, I actually go into the Pliosaurus, who thus ultimately makes for a much better candidate of being the true jaws of those times. And funnily enough, despite having less fame, the Pliosaurus was actually described decades earlier than the Liopluridon, when Richard Owen, who also happened to be the first person to coin the term dinosaur, named the pliosaurus in 1842, after finding a partial skull, lower jaw, and several limbs. Owen was correctly able to tell that despite its strange body proportions, this new creature was both giant and a type of plesosaur.

But where he was wrong was that he mistook it for being close related to crocodiles, due to its somewhat crock-like body and skull, thus leading to its name, which means more lizard. However, years after, with more research, paleontologists would find that the pliosaurs' closest living relatives were not crocodiles, or any crocodilian for that matter, but really turtles of all things. See the resemblance? The additional research carried out also led scientists to create an entirely new family within the plesiosauria, specifically for pliosaurus and those more like it than the other long-necked species. They dubbed this new family, Pliosauridae, and since its creation, around 31 species have joined its rank, who together span an existence stretching 139 million years from the late Triassic to late Cretaceous, and a range that encompassed water on every continent except for Antarctica, Asia, and Africa.

Among the group, there was quite a high level of diversity, despite them all sharing certain general characteristics, and ultimately different subgroups were formed, with Pliosaurus, again getting its own group, composed of those more closely related to it than the Marmorenectes, a fellow pliosaur, and the group was ultimately lovingly named the Lassophonia, meaning the sea murderers. This gives you a small idea of just what kind of animal pliastorus was, and should make you wonder why exactly that name? Well, it was a reflection of their exceptionally giant skulls, and in turn, jaws, that could account for 25% of their entire body length.

And while not as much of a strict definer, those placed in this group were also some of the largest pli-sores and marine predators to have ever lived. And actually, some paleontologists think that certain specimens of plisaurus may represent the biggest of its kind overall. But not every individual was made equal when it came to length or mass. For over the years, multiple different species have been unearthed and named. And even now, there are still some undergoing approval, with the total number of species possibly reaching up to 12, depending on who you ask. Each one differs a bit in their own way, with size being the biggest difference, though all retain seven distinctive characteristics only seen in this genus,

which include a certain number of teeth, specific vertebrae proportions, and most importantly, teeth that are triangular at the cross-section. Of all the kinds identified, the most famous and iconic are arguably the type species, pliosaurus brachytherus and pliosaurus funke, who is more commonly known as Predator X. And as far as many paleontologists are concerned, it was the king of its genus when it came to size and ferocity, with a length between 10 and 12 meters or 33 and 39 feet. While its weight could have been more than 12 tons, making it larger than two normal-sized orcas combined together. And while not confirmed, there is some very strong evidence that it got even bigger.

As in 2023, scientists revealed that giant vertebrae had been unearthed in the Kimmerich-Clay formation of England that dwarfed anything found previously. And based on other pliosaurs, it's thought that the bones belonged to a specimen that measured as long as 14.4 meters or 47 feet, which is seriously massive when considering the fact that pliosaurs have shorter necks and not particularly long tails.

But because only vertebrae were found, it's not crystal clear in what genus the specimen belonged to. But the researchers heavily favored the idea that it was a pliosaurus, with funke being the likeliest species. It's possible that an adult this, this size would weigh well over 15 tons, which would render it the biggest fish, so to speak, in its environment, and very likely the entire world during its existence.

However, to be the jaws of the Jurassic, you can't just rely on size. You need the, well, jaws as well. And in this department, Pliosaurus came more than prepared, with individuals regularly yielding skulls longer than the average NBA player is tall. And inside these Titanic jaws, dozens of large, highly serrated titheaterated throids, teeth were situated tightly next to one another. That also retained very pronounced cutting edges, which allowed this predator to take gargantuan chunks out of prey with ease, causing forcible amputations and major blood loss leading to shock and death. And it wasn't just the sheer sharpness

of the teeth that made each bite extremely lethal. As pliosaurus's teeth also had highly unique angles that led to each one overlapping with the others as the jaws came down, causing them to create a chopping or giant scissor-like cutting effect that just added more problems for any victim. The design of the teeth alone most likely meant that even swimming into them at a snail's pace would cut you up. But just for pure overkill's sake, the plysaurus developed an extremely powerful bite force as well, thanks to its deep and robust jawbones that would have housed large muscles and its sturdy powerful neck. Back in the day, it was said that Predator X could have bitten down with a force of 33,000 pounds per square inch, equivalent to 16 tons, which is six

times greater than the compressive strength seen in most concretes. Although, this number was only provided informally based on its original size estimates, which turned out to be a little gratuitous. So, its bite may not have really been this powerful. That being said, another smaller species, the Plyasaurus Kivani, did undergo a more detailed study, which found that upon maximal exertion, its back teeth could have generated forces up to 49,000 newtons, three times more powerful than the bite of a saltwater crocodile. And depending on which study you look at,

could also arguably be stronger than the bite of the king himself, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, who, mind you, could literally tear through a car with a single bite. And given that the species wasn't as large as the funke, it's assumed that at the very least, Predator X could match its power and most likely exceed it, meaning if something got caught by its jaws, it wasn't getting out alive or in one piece.

And this something is believed to have been virtually every animal that lived alongside it, Seeing that the pliosaurus's size and bite force alone meant that nothing was too big or too well defended to be off the menu. But of all the animals, cephalopods, large fish, and marine reptiles are thought to have been the most important part of the pliosaurus' diet. A hypothesis backed by the stomach contents seen in other pliosaurs, which showed the presence of large squid, fish, and reptilian teeth. And not to mention, others of its own kind may have gotten the axe from time to time as well. as fossil records showed that pliosaurus were extremely abundant within their environment. So fights over resources, territory, and mates were probably quite frequent. And interestingly, several stones were discovered in pliosaur stomachs as well,

suggesting that they routinely consumed them in order to help grind up food. Given its nightmarish appearance, bone pulverizing bite and large size, every animal that knew what was good for it probably did their best to avoid this creature. But this was definitely easier said than done, considering that pliosaurus had a build specifically designed for catching prey, having been equipped with four large and powerful flippers that could each be three meters or ten feet long, helping to generate immense thrust while flapping up and down. And when all four flippers were working together, the pliosaurus achieved remarkable speeds

that was mainly used for ambushes, as it required large amounts of energy and wasn't the most sustainable way of swimming, with studies finding that on the regular, only the front flippers were used when cruising. Along with immense speed, another area that pliosaurus seemed to be exceptional in was diving. Again, like in the case of the diet, this thought originates from what's seen in other pliosaurs, as numerous specimens are known to bear damage to their bodies that is in line with decompression sickness, such as necrosis to the skull, suggesting that they often travel to deep depths, perhaps in order to pursue prey or stage attacks from below. Yet, while deep diving was likely a big part of its life,

Specimens for the most part are found in areas more associated with shallow warm waters. As in the Kimmerich clay formation, for example, it appears that Pleiosaurus lived at depths no deeper than 200 meters or 650 feet, which is quite similar to the usual max living depths seen in modern Great Whites. And this is an interesting coincidence, seeing that the two also share another similarity. Brains. Specifically, skull scans of the Pleiosaurus show that proportionally speaking, the brain of pliosauris, was equal in size to that of a Great White, and was of a similar type too, leading to

paleontologists, sometimes using the Great White as a basis for how smart this sea murderer would have been. And while some may assume that Great Whites are not the most intelligent animals around, they are definitely not dumb, and are known to time their strikes on prey down to the exact second, be highly curious and inquisitive, and can even display certain levels of coordination, all things that paleontologists now think that Pleiatoris'aurus was capable of, too. Additionally, based on the brain shape and the structure of their skulls, it's thought that Plysaurus had keen senses as well, with eyesight and smell likely being the most refined, which

allowed it to track prey through areas of poor visibility, smell carcasses miles or kilometers away, and see up to ten times better than humans can underwater. With such an arsenal of tools combined with its offensive capabilities, there was truly nothing around that came even close to the dominance of the Plysaurus. And even if a competitor was close to its size, it didn't matter much as pliosaurus was surprisingly durable on top of being lethal. Because while it did not boast any obvious external armor, its skeleton was sneakily compact and robust, with its trunk in particular being quite sturdy, allowing it to tank and shake off an impressive amount of damage. There's also the indirect evidence

that pliosaurus possessed remarkable bone healing capabilities as well, which would further help but to survive and persist in a world already overran by marine predators. And speaking of surviving, one aspect of the Plysaurus that might invoke some envy was its longevity. Naturally, no one knows for sure just how long these creatures lived, but some estimates paint a lifespan of up to 100 years. Such a long lifespan granted extended domineering rules for individuals, and along with all the other traits, led them to being absolute units in nearly every way. And throughout their existence, Plyosaurus was able to achieve quite a wide and diverse distribution, with fossils being known from throughout Europe and South America,

which also indicate that it lived in both in now extinct Tethas Sea and the still existing Pacific Ocean. Within these areas, it showed a heavy preference for tropical shallow waters near land masses, where life, and therefore food, would have been absolutely abundant, and this is reflected by the large amount of marine and terrestrial animals found within and around its habitat. which included ray-finned fish, lobed fish, cartilaginous fish, various turtles, ornithicians, pterosaurs, saropods, small and medium-sized ichthyosaurs, mollusks, sepulopods, and arthropods. And as you probably noticed, the animals found on land included a few different dinosaurs. And while direct evidence of interaction is not known,

some speculate that those who venture too close to the water or travel between islands may have suffered the pliosaurus's wrath, if extremely unfortunate. And along with dinosaurs and the other mentioned animals, there was also a bunch of marine predators lurking around too, that were within their own right as scary as could be. This included a mix of other pleasiosaurs, such as the Lioplurton itself, Pachycosis, and Pelanusis,

an abundance of Thaladosukians, who were literally marine crocs that were both extremely diverse and giant, being able to grow up to seven meters or 23 feet, And then, of course, there are multiple sharks as well. Of all these predators, the ones that gave pliosaurus the best run for its money were other pliosaurs. However, not even them could reach its sizes, making fully grown pliosauruses, the true kings of the waters back then, and the most worthy of the title, Jobs of the Jurassic. And pliosaurus held this title for 8 million years, existing from 155 to 147 million years ago during the late Jurassic.

Yet, no matter how strong or powerful a ruler may be, his reign must eventually come to an end. And by the time the Jurassic gave way to the Cretaceous, the pliosaurus was no more. Despite it being a prominent and important pliosaur, we really don't have any good idea on why it disappeared. Though its vanishing does seem to correlate with a sudden decrease in pliosaur diversification overall, indicating that the trouble was not just limited to it. For now, the only ideas that really exist in the matter is that there was a potential decrease in prey or that some climatic change brought too much stress upon them and thus leading to a gradual decline. For a while, certain paleontologists believed that they have been out-competed by other predators.

Yet, there isn't really a great candidate for this hypothesis. However, there is one thing that's certain. There are probably many animals back then that would have been absolutely ecstatic that the pliosaurus was no more. Unfortunately for them, though, nature had another group of super predators up its sleeve, so to speak, ready to unleash upon the world not so long after. The Mosasaurus. Thanks for watching, and until next time. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes.

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