Lorrainosaurus: New apex predator discovered from the Jurassic Sea
A six-metre colossus marks the beginning of a new dynasty of "marine killers". Their rise to the top of the food chain began in the Middle Jurassic.
With its enormous tooth-reinforced jaws and a body length of around six metres, a newly described marine reptile was once one of the top predators in the ocean. The animal, called Lorrainosaurus, was one of the oldest known megapliosaurs, reports a research team in the scientific journal "Scientific Reports". It lived around 170 million years ago.
As one of the first really large pliosaurs, Lorrainosaurus founded a veritable "dynasty of mega-predators that dominated the oceans for around 80 million years", according to Sven Sachs, researcher at the Natural History Museum in Bielefeld and head of the study." Their name - Thalassophonea - or "sea killers" in German, already reveals how terrifying the animals are from today's perspective. Their beginnings were therefore earlier than assumed, in the Middle Jurassic. Little is known about the evolution of the pliosaurs and especially the Thalassophonea from this epoch.
The "marine killers" were among the most successful underwater predators of their time, they played a similar role in the ocean as modern-day orcas and were distributed practically worldwide, according to the study. Individual species could grow to more than ten metres in length. The species now described had a jaw about 1.3 metres long with large, cone-shaped teeth and a torpedo-shaped body. The animals moved with four fin-like limbs.
Source: Joschua Knüppe
The fossils of Lorrainosaurus were found as early as 1983 during roadworks near Metz in Lorraine in north-east France, the team writes. Only now have they been examined in detail by palaeontologists from the Natural History Museum in Bielefeld, Uppsala University and the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Pliosaurs belong to the plesiosaur family, but unlike the actual plesiosaurs, they had short necks and massive skulls. Their development into giant apex predators over 170 million years ago led to their dominance over other predatory marine reptiles, including the ichthyosaurs or crocodile relatives, which are more reminiscent of fish in terms of their physique, according to the press release from Uppsala University. Previously, the marine ecosystems may have undergone radical changes due to temperature changes.
Spectrum of Science
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Cover image: 10 Tons, Uppsala University
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