Sea monsters existed for sixty six million years ago. They were the same size as the last dinosaurs and lived in the ocean. Mosasus looked like a Komodo dragon with flippers and a shark-like tail as a child. Dozens of species were evolution that filled different niches. Some people ate fish and squid, others ate seafood.
There is a new mosasaur that preys on large marine animals.
The Thalassotitan atrox was found in the Oulad Abdoun Basin of Khouribga Province, an hour outside Casablanca.
Much of Africa was flooded at the end of the Cretaceous period. The ocean currents pull the bottom waters to the surface and create a thriving marine environment. There was a lot of fish in the seas. Their predator was the giant Thalassotitan. It was the largest animal in the sea with a 1.3 meter head.
mosasaurs had long jaws and small teeth. The building of Thalassotitan was very different. It had a snout and jaws that were similar to that of a killer whale. Large jaw muscles were attached to the back of the skull. The mosasaur was able to destroy large animals.
The teeth of orcas are large. The tips of those teeth are damaged. Thalassotitan is thought to have damaged its teeth biting into the bones of marine reptile.
The fossils of its victims were found at the same site. Thalassotitan skulls and skeletons are made from rocks that have been partially eaten byosaurs. Acid has partially eaten the teeth of these animals. It's possible that they were eaten and spat up by a predator. It's not possible to prove Thalassotitan ate them, but it fits the profile of the killer and makes him the prime suspect.
Thalassotitan is at the top of the food chain and tells a lot about the evolution of marine food chains.
The evolution of a murderer.
Just before the asteroid hit 66 million years ago, Thalassotitan was discovered, which tells us about the marine environment.
There are a dozen mosasaur species in the waters off of Morocco. The diversity of the predators in the ocean implies that the oceans are able to feed all of them. The marine environment was not in decline before the asteroid struck.
Many species of fish, mollusks, sea urchins, and crustaceans died out when the 10- kilometer wide asteroid slammed into it. The Mosasaur extinction was not predictable. It was the result of a big event. They ended like a lightning strike from a blue sky.
The mosasaur may have started with a disaster. The evolution of the mosasaur is similar to that of the tyrannosaurus rex. The giant T. rex evolved on land around the same time as mosasaur. Is that related? It's possible that maybe not.
The mosasaurs and tyrannosaurs became larger at the same time in the Turonian stage of the Cretaceous. The sea and land went extinct around 94 million years ago.
The extinctions are linked to extreme global warming because of the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The giant allosaurid predator was wiped out on land. mosasus and tyrannosaurs moved into the top predator niche when the niches were empty. Thalassotitan and T.rex did not evolve until after a mass extinction.
The larger they are the harder they fall.
Top predator are fascinating because of their large size. They are vulnerable because they are at the top of the food chain. As you move up the food chain, you have less animals. It takes many small fish to feed a big fish, many large fish to feed a small mosasaur, and many small mosasaur to feed a giant mosasaur. Top predator are rare. apex predator are in trouble if the food supply is disrupted
The environment can quickly turn dangerous if it gets bad.
Thalassotitan is an interesting predator to study extinction because of its sensitivity to environmental change. Being a top predator is risky according to them. Evolution drives the evolution of large and large predatory animals. They are able to compete for and take down prey. Disaster susceptibility is increased by specialization for the apex predator niche. A mass extinction wipes out the top predator and the cycle begins again.
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