Posted on 10/10/2011 6:55:25 AM PDT by decimon
Boulder, CO, USA - Long before whales, the oceans of Earth were roamed by a very different kind of air-breathing leviathan. Snaggle-toothed ichthyosaurs larger than school buses swam at the top of the Triassic Period ocean food chain, or so it seemed before Mount Holyoke College paleontologist Mark McMenamin took a look at some of their remains in Nevada. Now he thinks there was an even larger and more cunning sea monster that preyed on ichthyosaurs: a kraken of such mythological proportions it would have sent Captain Nemo running for dry land. McMenamin will be presenting the results of his work on Monday, 10 October at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis.
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It became very clear that something very odd was going on there, said McMenamin. It was a very odd configuration of bones.
First of all, the different degrees of etching on the bones suggested that the shonisaurs were not all killed and buried at the same time. It also looked like the bones had been purposefully rearranged. That it got him thinking about a particular modern predator that is known for just this sort of intelligent manipulation of bones.
Modern octopus will do this, McMenamin said. What if there was an ancient, very large sort of octopus, like the kraken of mythology. I think that these things were captured by the kraken and taken to the midden and the cephalopod would take them apart.
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(Excerpt) Read more at geosociety.org ...
Leviathan rises and a billion calamari appetizers scream out in vengeance.
I miss having kittens. Not enough to get a third cat but I do miss them.
Courtesy PTerry.... ;o)
"That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange aeons even death may die"
(Just because I see it as my role in life to spread the sunshine!)
We haven’t had kittens for 30 years. Our first two were, but after that, we always adopted strays.
But I love mooning over the kittens at the shelters and at Pet Smart.
It’s too late now anyway. I can no longer promise a kitten “forever.”
Very cheery day brightener, Sensei! Thanks.
Thanks for that link. AWESOME!!!
Yes she did!
probably obvious, but worth noting that assuming the predator was invertebrate, there will never be any fossils - unless there are teeth (?)
btw, worth looking at the pic of the vertebra fossils. it helps put in perspective how unnatural their positioning is.
http://www.geosociety.org/graphics/media/1165-GeogyphU-600.jpg
Ugh. It’s been a while since I’ve been there but I didn’t know they served calamari with their burgers. That just sounds nasty.
(Sorry if it’s your favorite.)
“Leviathan rises and a billion calamari appetizers scream out in vengeance.”
No, I’m not a calamari fan! But your quote (above) is a line from a Terry Pratchett book, GOOD OMENS. I thought you were quoting him! :)
I'm also glad to know that I wasn't being as original as I thought. ;>
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