Geosaurus (top) and Dakosaurus (bottom) were mega meat-eaters that rivalled dinosaurs as predators. [Dmitry Bogdanov]
Posted on 10/02/2010 1:47:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
These extinct relatives of crocodiles sunk their sharp, serrated teeth into prey and then spun, ripping out chunks of flesh... The carnivores that evolved alongside dinosaurs hunted with quick, opportunistic strikes... marine mega meat-eaters ripped into prey with massive, serrated teeth some 171 to 136 million years ago to satisfy a diet of at least 70 percent flesh. What's more, metriorhynchids, the extinct relatives of today's crocodiles, had a killing skill that T. Rex lacked: The death roll. The creatures would sink their teeth into prey and then spin their bodies in the water to tear out large chunks of flesh. New findings show how adaptations for a mega meat-eating lifestyle extended to some full-time water dwellers as well as to certain land-based animals, like dinosaurs. The paper, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, focused on three metriorhynchids from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous: Dakosaurus, Geosaurus and the newly named Torvoneustes. All three were "hypercarnivores," which lead author Marco Brandalise de Andrade, defines as a carnivore with a diet made up of at least 70 percent meat.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
Geosaurus (top) and Dakosaurus (bottom) were mega meat-eaters that rivalled dinosaurs as predators. [Dmitry Bogdanov]
One down. :’)
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.....
Metriorhynchids
The Movie.
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I’m starving after reading that!
Or Metri-Croc...another bad SyFy Channel movie.
And my apologies to the list — the system responded that FR’s server wasn’t responding, so I resent it, left the house, and came back to the usual 500-something error (the list size is the problem there, I believe).
2.5M viewers, according the usenet rec.arts.sf.tv group.
Funny, with great eye-candy among the victims.
Except for Eric Roberts, of course.
Roger Corman apparently still has some creativeness left in him.
Pliosaurs must have had a field day.
I hope it was built to kill. Being all T.Rex like, it sure wasn’t built to cuddle.
If the diet of these critters was 70% meat, what was the other 30%?
A great deal of this is creative dramatisation with no basis in objective fact. The author is spinning a fascinating yarn based upon supposition regarding a fossilised imprint and/or a few remains.
Don’t give the SyFy channel any ideas.
Awwww, it’s Flipper!
Somehow I have to believe there’s a porpoise to all of it.
Fish, duh! ;’)
Tastes like chicken.
“Sorry Charlie, you’re extinct.”
8 ) Dolfinately
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