Platecarpus & Icthyodectes
North America, Niobrara Formation
Although by no means the largest mosasaur, Platecarpus was a formidable aquatic predator. Related to living monitor lizards, it grew to lengths of five metres and lived in the warm waters of the Western Interior Seaway, an inland sea dividing North America into two landmasses during the Late Cretaceous.
Mosasaurs evolved from smaller semi-aquatic lizards during the early Cretaceous to become the dominant aquatic predators of their age, rivalling in size the dinosaurs and diversifying into a host of different forms and species.
The fossil record for mosasaurs is good, their large size and marine habitat creating favourable opportunities for fossilization and many excellent examples are on display.
Ichthyodectes, one of many large predatory fish species that existed along side mosasaurs was shaped somewhat like the extant barracuda, and possibly favoured a similar lifestyle, following larger predators in the hope of scavenging food.
Squid were common in the Western Interior Seaway. Although bioluminescence doesn’t fossilise, it is reasonable to hypothesise that like many species of cephalopod today, Cretaceous squids may also have possessed bioluminescence.
Ink on paper.
X Close Info