Page 166 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)

Giant marine

reptiles

The marine world

Elasmosaurus Megacephalosaurus
The sharp teeth of this
big pliosaur were ideal
for seizing other marine The head was
reptiles and slippery fish. tiny compared to
its massive body.

The skull alone could be About 23 ft (7 m)
more than 6 ⁄2 ft (2 m) long.
1
long, Elasmosaurus
had one of the longest
necks of all time.

Pliosaurus

About 43 ft (13 m) Studies of its skull show
in length, this was one that this pliosaur had a
of the biggest pliosaurs. The ichthyosaurs were among good sense of smell, which it
the most successful marine The huge eyes used to track down prey.
reptiles, with at least 50 main
types having been found as fossils. were about 20 cm
(8 in) in diameter.

Ichthyosaurus
Temnodontosaurus
reached lengths of
12 m (39 ft).
Temnodontosaurus

Reptiles flourished in the oceans during but over the next 135 million years they
the Triassic Period. But about 200 million evolved into some of the most powerful
years ago, the Triassic Period came to an end predators that have ever existed. Some, like
with a mass extinction that destroyed many of Dakosaurus, resembled crocodiles but were
the spectacular reptiles that had ruled the seas. specialized for life at sea. Ichthyosaurus and
164 The survivors took a long time to recover, its giant relative Temnodontosaurus were

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