Photographers and sperm whales

Recently, a photographer photographed a rare giant sea iguana in the waters near the Galapagos Islands. Its rampaging momentum and ferocious appearance are reminiscent of the horrible movie monster star Godzilla. Compared with land, the ocean is more mysterious. The Mesozoic sea was extremely scary, and the sea monsters had a strong eye. Today, let's take a look at Godzilla in these waters!

Ichthyosaurus: Brothers are indeed a legend (Early Triassic)

Shawnee ichthyosaur restoration map

This is by no means bragging. Think about it first. Among these marine reptiles, who has existed longer than my brother? Brother's fossils were found in the early Triassic strata 250 million years ago. Dinosaurs? There was no shadow at that time. Besides extinction, although I didn't see the day when dinosaurs died out, I don't want to be "pot calling the kettle black". I spit out the last bubble 93 million years ago, but the good days of dinosaurs were not long at that time.

Think about my figure again, fish shape, fish shape! This is the most suitable figure for marine life. Look at my junior. Only their limbs and tails became flippers. Who can spell like me? Paleontologists have suggested that if black dragon could live several million years longer, it would also evolve in the direction of brothers. In addition, several years later, mammals also evolved in the direction of Colombia. Although this is called convergent evolution in biology, the point is that Columbia is much earlier than them.

Let's take a look at my figure. Who is the largest marine reptile ever? A long-necked plesiosaur close to 15 meters? Just so-so A smooth-toothed dragon 25 meters long? Shit, will you stop listening to BBC radio satellites? The largest one found so far is only a dozen meters. 19 meter giant black dragon? Brother said there was no pressure ... The ichthyosaur fossils excavated by paleontologists in Shawnee Mountain, Nevada, USA in 1953 were 2 1 m long (equivalent to modern sperm whales).

Scale diagram of Shawnee ichthyosaur and human body

How's it going? Come on, bye!

Sea crocodile: I am cannon fodder (Middle Jurassic)

Lizards in the suborder Crocodiles are highly specialized.

The real lizards of Crocodiles are not completely specialized.

I regret it. If I hadn't followed suit, I wouldn't have been bullied in the sea and I wouldn't have left the stage of history early. Marine crocodiles are a disgrace to the crocodile family. The study of crocodile family ancestors' fossils shows that in the early days, we had sexy long legs and could run on the ancient land like wolves, tigers and leopards. Later, people found that our left and right nasal cavities began to separate, which showed that we had marched into the river. This is a wise choice. You see, crocodiles that really live in fresh water have not survived tenaciously up to now.

But why should I go to the ocean? I can't help it The temptation is too great. In the early and middle Jurassic, transgression was very common, and the vast sea water and white waves were really attractive. My body is slowly changing, my magnificent armor is replaced by smooth skin, and my limbs and tail have become swimming fins. Until one day, I was at a loss, because I found that I could never go back to the shore, even if I gave birth in the sea. ...

At this time, it is in the alternate stage of the two tyrants who rule the ocean-the fierce Teman ichthyosaur and the terrible Sinodon. They are all over 65,438+00 meters long. As for me, a crocodile with no armor protection and only about 3 meters is so desolate in the sea. Only by speed, hunting and running. Smaller institutions have also been criticized as "opportunists" for adopting the strategy of sneak attack. Under the fierce competition, I gradually withdrew from the historical stage in the Cretaceous. I am cannon fodder, and I am never dazzled.

Advise the crocodile king who is still entangled in salt and fresh water to go back to shore ~

Tortoise: So he laughed quietly to the end (early Cretaceous).

Bone restoration of ancient giant tortoise

Unlike crocodiles rushing into the sea, I am calm and cautious about this matter, because there are good and bad trends. So although we appeared as early as Triassic (a little later than ichthyosaur), we didn't really go to sea until the early Cretaceous. In 2009, paleontologists discovered a turtle named angolachelonia in the Cretaceous strata in Angola, Africa, and initially determined that it had the characteristics of modern turtles. I spent nearly 1 100 million years at sea!

Although most turtles nowadays are docile and like to eat light vegetarian food, Cretaceous turtles are not easy to mess with. In the late Cretaceous 80 million years ago, a big turtle evolved in the turtle family. This is the famous ancient giant turtle. When Dr. G.R. Wielan excavated the fossil of the ancient giant turtle in 1895, he was deeply shocked, because the ancient giant turtle was 4 meters long, with flippers at both ends up to 4.9 meters, and a pair of powerful jaws. It was definitely a carnivore.

Scale map of ancient giant turtles, modern turtles and humans

In the process of extinction at the end of Cretaceous, some tortoises also withdrew from the historical stage, but after all, they were not all extinct like ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, and a group of tenacious members survived. In Cenozoic, the turtle family was still swimming in the sea: the hind limbs of Eocene Bobige turtle were not like fins, so it crawled faster on land than modern turtles; Pleistocene leatherback turtles had a pair of leather appearance and terrible nipples ... Unexpectedly, we laughed quietly and carefully at the end.

Black dragon: You ignored my love yesterday, but you can't stand it today (middle Cretaceous).

Primitive canglong-Dallas lizard

I know that I must be the brightest star among you today. Thanks to Mr. Spielberg, let more people know me. Although you said I was more than 30 meters, it was not too far off the mark. What people don't know is that I started as a nobody. 90 million years ago, I was just a land lizard less than 1 meter long on the coast. I am so humble and pitiful that a dinosaur can run over me with one foot.

Because I live on the shore, sometimes I escape to the sea. I think it is a world worth traveling. So I tried to adapt myself to the marine environment, and finally I became a fierce sea monster nearly 20 meters-black dragon. Don't think that being big is enough, it's just a sign of being a big fool. After entering the ocean, my special ear has become a super public address system, which can amplify ordinary sound more than 30 times. I also keep my ancestors' forked tongues on land, so that I can collect smells from two directions and form a three-dimensional olfactory effect. I have a set of nerves on my chin that extend directly to my nose and mouth, which enables me to detect the pressure waves of underwater animals ... This top-class equipment makes me invincible.

Hoffman's scale diagram of hidden dragon and human body

Relying on my huge size, I eliminated the Cretaceous sharks that often bullied me when I first went out to sea; Relying on sneak attack tactics, biting the neck of plesiosaur again and again; In order to keep our territory, we did not hesitate to fight with our peers. By 70 million years ago, no force in the ocean could compete with us. Hehe, remember that little lizard who was bullied at the beginning?

Sea snake: Mom, why are we here? (Late Cretaceous)

Ancient cup snake fossil

I went to the sea at the latest, but why doesn't Mao even know his own life? You used to say that my land ancestors gradually adapted to the degeneration of lizard limbs living in caves. Although this is the mainstream view, fossils do not deceive people. Paleontologists discovered an ancient snake with two feet 654.38 billion years ago. Its waist has two feet. And the trunk has more 140 vertebrae than the so-called lizard ancestors. More importantly, this ancient snake lives in the ocean!

What does this mean? Paleontologists speculate that snakes are the result of the gradual deterioration of the limbs of marine lizards (ancestors of black dragon) after they returned to land. What about our sea snakes? It is the result of snakes returning to land and sea ... Of course, this is just one of the sayings in the evolutionary history of snakes, so I am very worried about my life experience and can't help but ask, Ma Ma, how did we come?

However, one thing is certain: we went to sea one after another from the late Cretaceous, and this process basically ended in the Tertiary. This time is just before and after the Cretaceous extinction. For us in the exploration period, it is just a little setback. Let's seize the opportunity! Don't think that after the end of the dinosaur era, there will be no large-scale marine reptiles in the ocean. Have you seen this? The ancient cup snake is a giant sea snake that lives in the Paleocene to Oligocene, and can grow to more than 6 meters. The study of its vertebrate fossils found that this snake may have higher metabolic capacity than modern snakes, so it was transformed from a warm-blooded animal like a warm-blooded animal.