Page 24 - DINOSOUR ATLAS

dinosaur atlas
Reptiles in the Sea

The marine repTiles of The mesozoic era were only distantly related to the
dinosaurs, but they lived at the same time and probably preyed on them if they
got the chance. Many were giants with formidable jaws, and some were as highly
adapted to life in the water as modern whales and dolphins. Since they lived in
the sea, where fossilization is much more likely, many of their fossils are superbly u deinosuchus
preserved, complete with the remains of the animals that they had eaten just Aquatic reptiles also lived in freshwater. They
before they died. One fossil ichthyosaur even captures the moment of birth, included giant ancestors of today’s crocodiles,
like the Cretaceous Deinosuchus—a monster
showing that its young were born with a skull more than 6 ft (1.8 m) long.
fully formed and tail first, like
those of porpoises.

Long, narrow snout
was equipped with many
large teeth for seizing
tough-shelled ammonites

u temnodontosaurus
The ichthyosaurs were reptiles that preyed on fish,
MobiLe skuLL bones squid, and ammonites. They appeared in the Triassic
allowed this predatory Period, and were abundant in Jurassic oceans. At 30 ft
marine lizard to swallow
large prey whole (9 m) long, Temnodontosaurus was one of the biggest.

u tylosaurus
One of the Cretaceous
mosasaurs, relatives of
monitor lizards, Tylosaurus
was an 36-ft (11-m)
predator that hunted fish,
squid, and turtles.

u nothosaurus
This slender animal was a typical nothosaur—
reptiles that lived in shallow Triassic seas and fed
mainly on fish. Unlike many marine reptiles they
probably bred on beaches, like seals.

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