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Sauropterygians were a diverse group of aquatic reptiles adapted for flipper-based aquatic locomotion. This group included the plesiosaurs, nothosaurs, and placodonts. Mosasaurs were a group of large, aquatic squamates (relatives of modern-day lizards and snakes) which became the dominant marine predators towards the end of the Cretaceous period.
Sauropterygia ("lizard flippers") is an extinct taxon of diverse, aquatic reptiles that developed from terrestrial ancestors soon after the end-Permian extinction and flourished during the Triassic before all except for the Plesiosauria became extinct at the end of that period. The plesiosaurs would continue to diversify until the end of the ...
Many temnospondyls are much larger than living amphibians, and superficially resemble crocodiles, which has led many taxa to be named with the suffix -suchus.The largest taxa, which were predominantly the Mesozoic stereospondyls, had skulls exceeding one meter in length, and the entire animal would have been several meters in length (for reference, the largest living amphibian, Andrias, is ...
The Mesozoic marine revolution (MMR) refers to the increase in shell-crushing (durophagous) and boring predation in benthic organisms throughout the Mesozoic era (251 Mya to 66 Mya), along with bulldozing and sediment remodelling in marine habitats. [1] The term was first coined by Geerat J. Vermeij, [2] who based his work on that of Steven M ...
Many of the so-called 'dinosaur' remains found on New Zealand are actually mosasaurs and plesiosaurs [citation needed], both being Mesozoic predatory marine reptiles. The largest mosasaur currently on public display is Bruce, a 65-70%-complete specimen of Tylosaurus pembinensis dating from the late Cretaceous Period, approximately 80 million ...
Mesozoic fish of North America (3 C, 2 P) Mesozoic fish of South America (3 C, 2 P) B. Mesozoic bony fish (3 C, 1 P) C. Mesozoic cartilaginous fish (4 C)
The Mesozoic Era [3] is the era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods.It is characterized by the dominance of gymnosperms such as cycads, ginkgoaceae and araucarian conifers, and of archosaurian reptiles such as the dinosaurs; a hot greenhouse climate; and the tectonic break-up of Pangaea.
Most phytosaurs are thought to be aquatic animals, and indeed most do show adaptations for such a lifestyle; swim tracks attributed to phytosaurs, for example, are known. [14] However, at least Nicrosaurus seems to have evolved towards a secondarily terrestrial lifestyle, developing longer limb bones, straighter femora and a deeper pelvis, and ...