Prehistoric Marine Life

[Dr. SeaWeed]

while rifling through different fish coloring patterns I came across some extinct fish, sharks, and even whales that I thought were cool and wanted to share.. who knows maybe even a color scheme in there for a tail hehe.

1)Sharks-
-Helicoprion- its bottom jaw looks like a circular saw.-http://www.search4dinosaurs.com/shir...licoprion.html
-Edestus- also has a strange looking jaw.- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edestus
-Kaiyodo Xenacanthus- could only find a toy of this one but I love the color scheme.- http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Kaiyodo-d...-/390320503060

2)Fish-
-Leedsichthys- The biggest fish ever.-http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/107955/view
-Hyneria- really like the coloring on this one.- http://walkingwith.wikia.com/wiki/Hyneria

3)Whales-
-Odobenocetops- This one is a 2m long whale but it has tusks and looks like a walrus or manatee more than a whale - http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/seamons...nocetops.shtml
-Zygophyseter varolai- carnivorous whale.- http://carnivora.proboards.com/index...ay&thread=5505
-Basilosaurus- another.- http://prehistoricearth.wikia.com/wiki/Basilosaurus

[Spindrift]

I love prehistoric marine life! These pictures/links are awesome! Thanks!

[Spindrift]

... I think my favorite out of the links listed is the Basilosaurus (which is an awesome sounding name).

[Odette]

the hyneria is neat. thanks for sharing this =)

[Mermaid Hamant]

The Zygophyseter varolai resembles a Boto (Amazon Pink River Dolphin.) Doesn't it?

[green52]

There are fossils of things which have no known living decedents. I wonder what might have existed which left no fossils either. No trace left on Earth to record its existence.

[Dr. SeaWeed]

glad you all enjoyed it! feel free to keep adding to the list if you know of any other cool ones

[SweeteSiren]

I'm surprised they found fossilized remains of sharks. Weren't their skeletons made of cartilage, or did they actually have bones in the Devonian Era?

[koiboi]

this is was really interesting although for some reason it kinda unnerves me that there was a carnivorous whale.....even though we have orcas n all.

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

I wonder, do krill count as meat for the purposes of being carnivorous? Because then all whales would be considered carnivorous.

I love all the plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, dunkleosteus, and archeleons as well, not to mention the megalodons. And did you know that basilosaurus was originally thought to be a lizard (hence the name, meaning "king lizard") and upon discovering the truth, Richard Owen wanted to rename it Zeuglodon ("Yoked Tooth") but conventions of paleontological naming kept the original name, even though it's inaccurate? Zeuglodons have made appearances in other forms of popular culture, including as monsters dwelling in a titanic sea realm in Scion: God.

[SweeteSiren]

This is my favorite prehistoric fish.

http://www.dinofish.com/

[Capt Nemo]

Even baleen whales target schools of small fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyb8mOO5ZpY

[Coradion]

I'm surprised they found fossilized remains of sharks. Weren't their skeletons made of cartilage, or did they actually have bones in the Devonian Era?

Cartilaginous skeletons decay, but if the sediment is soft and anoxic conditions occur soft tissues can be fossilized. Bone was also one of the characteristics of some of the first fish. The Ostracoderms which are many of the first jawless fish had large plates of true bone. A lot of characteristics we think of as being newer or less primitive are actually shown through the fossil record as being very primitive. Live birth is one of these, I believe it was a placoderm fossil that actually had an umbilical chord attached to the mother as well as the baby when the two fish were fossilized.

[Coradion]

I wonder, do krill count as meat for the purposes of being carnivorous? Because then all whales would be considered carnivorous.

I love all the plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, dunkleosteus, and archeleons as well, not to mention the megalodons. And did you know that basilosaurus was originally thought to be a lizard (hence the name, meaning "king lizard") and upon discovering the truth, Richard Owen wanted to rename it Zeuglodon ("Yoked Tooth") but conventions of paleontological naming kept the original name, even though it's inaccurate? Zeuglodons have made appearances in other forms of popular culture, including as monsters dwelling in a titanic sea realm in Scion: God.

Krill does count as a meat source, it is an animal. Whales are generally divided into two taxonomic groups based less so on food source and more on the mechanism with which they feed. We typically separate whales as being toothed or baleen.

[Nate Walis]

Truth be told, there was some epic level scary shit in the seas of prehistoric Earth...

[Alveric]

There be some plenty scary shit down there now. Especially when you consider yet to be discovered species in the deep deep dark.

(I deleted the excess posts.)

Alveric

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Krill does count as a meat source, it is an animal. Whales are generally divided into two taxonomic groups based less so on food source and more on the mechanism with which they feed. We typically separate whales as being toothed or baleen.

Yeah, but we distinguish between carnivores and insectivores (and to a lesser extent, piscivores), and krill aren't technically red or white meat, fish, plants or insects.

And Nate, truth be told, there are some epic level scary things in the seas of modern Earth.

[SweeteSiren]

I believe it was a placoderm fossil that actually had an umbilical chord attached to the mother as well as the baby when the two fish were fossilized.

Wow!! Plainly I know far less about fossils than I thought I did!

[Nate Walis]

There be some plenty scary shit down there now. Especially when you consider yet to be discovered species in the deep deep dark.

(I deleted the excess posts.)

Alveric

On that subject, I just saw a picture of the two foot long shrimp they fshed out of a trench near New Zealand!

[Alveric]

A two foot shrimp!? That would give me nightmares, like an eight-foot chicken.

Alveric