#Pliosaurus funkei

[saritawolff]

Patreon request for rome.and.stuff (Instagram), and my first plesiosaur (well, first since I was like… 10)

Pliosaurus funkei!

Pliosaurs were a family of plesiosaurs that eventually lost their stereotypical long-necked, small-headed body plan. Resembling the mosasaurs that would come much later, pliosaurs had short necks with large, strong jaws, and fed on fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles. The type genus, Pliosaurus, contains at least 6 species. The first and type species, P. brachydeirus, was described and named by Sir Richard Owen in 1841.

Between 2004 and 2012, a new species of Pliosaurus was in the process of being uncovered. Before it was formally described or even named, news of this giant sea monster escaped into the general media and it was dubbed “Predator X”.

This Predator X prompted a media frenzy… there were articles estimating its size based on the fragments found so far, a 2009 television special on the History channel, and a segment in the 2011 BBC documentary series “Planet Dinosaur.”

Predator X was reportedly the “most fearsome animal ever to swim in the oceans!”

When Pliosaurus funkei was finally formally described and named in 2012, it was found to be a bit smaller than the giant 15 meter long estimate being thrown around. However, it was still a very large animal, around 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long with a 2.0–2.5 m (6.6–8.2 ft) long skull. It also had very long flippers, probably to aid in maneuverability and speed. Analysis of Pliosaurus funkei’s skeleton show that it likely used its front flippers to cruise, only using its back flippers for quick bursts of speed when pursuing prey. Analysis of its brain case shows that its brain was proportional to that of a modern great white shark. So while it didn’t quite beat the Late Cretaceous 12–15.8 meter (39–52 ft) long mosasaur Tylosaurus, the Early Miocene to Late Pliocene 10.5-20.3 meter (34-67 ft) long shark Otodus megalodon, or even the modern day 11-16 meter (36-52 ft) long Physeter macrocephalus (Sperm Whale), it was still no doubt the apex predator of its time and environment.

Pliosaurus funkei lived in the last era of the Late Jurassic in the icy waters of Norway. Found in the Slottsmøya Member of the Agardhfjellet Formation, it would have lived in a cold, shallow sea rife with methane seeps. These methane seeps supported a high amount of diversity, and the Slottsmøya was teeming with ammonites, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, tubeworms, echinoderms, cold water sponges, and more. Many icthyosaurs and plesiosaurs would have enjoyed feeding on the plentiful invertebrates here, as well as each other. Pliosaurus funkei would have likely fed on other plesiosaurs like Colymbosaurus, Djupedalia, Ophthalmothule, and Spitrasaurus, as well as icthyosaurs like Cryopterygius, Undorosaurus, Arthropterygius, Nannopterygius, and Brachypterygius.

[toaarcan]

WWD's insanely oversized Liopleurodon ferox is infamous, and for good reason, but what doesn't get mentioned nearly as much is the other end of the scale. Ichthyosaurs were a diverse group, but some of the species from the late Triassic and early Jurassic were monstrously huge.

How huge? This huge.

Ichthyotitan is a more recent discovery, known mostly from fragmentary remains, so estimates to its size and weight are based on smaller, more complete relatives (Besanosaurus in this case), but not only show it dwarfing Pliosaurus funkei, the Pliosaur closest to the ridiculous size of WWD's Liopleurodon, but also being bigger than the oversized reconstruction as well.

It's most likely still lighter than the Blue Whale, but finding a larger specimen isn't impossible.

Ichthyotitan probably still wouldn't be dragging any unfortunate Megalosaurs down into the depths with it, though. We're not entirely sure what they ate, many of the largest Ichthyosaurs are reconstructed as being suction-feeders, similar to modern Sperm Whales, but recent finds have suggested that Shonisaurus did in fact have teeth, and big, deeply-rooted conical ones that suggest it was a macropredator, more akin to a giant, oceanic crocodile than a whale.

[thedrawinggizzard]

Disco-keryx and Pliosaurus Funky.

[artificial-ascension]

Pliosaurs and hawks are very similar in that I overall find them pretty mid however, they have one individual (Predator X and Red Tailed Hawk) which I absolutely adore.

[aberrantologist]

Pliosaurus funkei does a funky pose in front of some sea ice as it explores its frigid ocean home.

[lizardywizard]

actually "dinosaur" isn't a language it's an entire language family, and "rawr" only means "i love you" in 2 of them

other meanings of "rawr":

- scrape in the ground for a nest (derogatory) (Compsognathus)

- past participle of rerr (Jakapil kaniukura)

- split river, river mouth (Spinosaurus)

- devour (Pliosaurus funkei)

- someone who eats their food in the road and has to drop it when a car comes, rather than dragging it to the sidewalk; a fool (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

[justgoji]

Pliosaurus funkei, going on an underwater cruise.

[fangtalksdragons]

Results from last nights paleostream

Sleepy Cacops showing its bizarre teeth.

Pliosaurus funkei having fun splashing around .

Pampaphoneus giving a Endothiodon a kiss with its sabers.

Ufudocyclops & Euparkeria.

[palaeoplushies]

I made some Pliosaurs my dudes. www.palaeoplushies.com

[antediluvianechoes]

Pliosaurus funkei. by Frank-Lode

Pliosaurus does not sing, hum, moan, sigh, hiss, or snarl. It does not roar, groan, whistle, or bark. The only sound prey can hear to know of its approach is the droning thunder of its steady heartbeat.

[paleonativeart]

Day 11: Pliosaurus funkei (Predator X)

This is formerly known as Predator X, he is the undersea king of true Jurassic World.

Based on skeletal design which is belongs to rightful owner and the pose is based on breaching humpback whale.

[psaronius-blog]

Hey love crusader I want to be your space invader

[dinosaurguy]

Amazing photos and diagrams of the skull of Megacephalosaurus eulerti, from the 2013 Schumacher et al. paper, what you see is the specimen FHSM VP-321  witch is the biggest and most complete. Megacephalosaurus was a pliosaur, the same family of the Jurassic behemoths like Kronosaurus and Pliosaurus, some might sound familiar like Lipleurodon or “Predator X” (Pliosaurus funkei).

Megacephalosaurus was the last pliosaurs to exist, these guys were the last attempt for the pliosaurs to rule the seas like in the Jurassic, but lost the competition to the mosasaurs... 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263690337_A_New_Cretaceous_Pliosaurid_Reptilia_Plesiosauria_from_the_Carlile_Shale_Middle_Turonian_of_Russell_County_Kansas

[armael-nahual]

Scale recreation of pliosaurus funkei, one of the most feared sea beasts of the middle / upper Jurassic.

[albertonykus]

What is the largest jurassic pliosaur currently?

I don’t follow the literature on plesiosaurs very closely, but last I heard the leading contenders were Pliosaurus funkei and Pliosaurus kevani, per Benson et al. (2013).

[adiwisaksonoadi]

A). Livyatan melvillei (9.9-8.9 million years ago, Miocene Epoch).

B). Mosasaurus hoffmanni (82-66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous Period).

C). Modern Human, Homo sapiens.

D). Great White shark

E). Xiphactinus (112-66 million yeara ago, Late Cretaceous Period).

F). Megalodon (23-2.6 million years ago, Miocene Epoch).

G). Temnodontosaurus *size's exaggerated* (200-175 million years ago, Early Jurassic Period).

H). Helicoprion (290 million years ago, early Permian Period).

I). Pliosaurus funkei *size's exaggerated* (155-147 million years ago, Late Jurassic Period).

J). Dunkleosteus (382-352 million years ago, Late Devonian period).

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