Liopleurodon

This is the first post from a new category on my blog, a category of extinct creatures. The first monster in this category is the liopleurodon king of the seas!

The liopleurodon is a huge extinct marine reptile belonging to a group called pliosaurs. The liopleurodon was named back in 1873 by Henri-Emilé Sauvage, its name means smooth-sided teeth. Sauvage had at the time only 3 teeth of the animal, but today we posses more remains of the creature and know a little bit more about it. But the liopleurodon is actually a quite controversial reptile to discuss, at least when it comes to how big these guys got.

If you’re familiar with the TV series walking with dinosaurs you may have watched an episode where one of these creatures played a significant part. The narrator stated when talking about a huge male liopleurodon that it was 25 meters long and big even for its kind. Today most paleontologists think that size is pretty exaggerated and 18 meters is probably a more realistic guess when it comes to its length.

This magnificent beast was one the biggest carnivores ever to have lived on our planet. When looking at reconstructions of the creature it looks like a bizarre mix between a crocodile and a whale. I think it's crazy thinking about what other weird creatures once swam in our oceans, and even more that a lot of them probably never will be discovered. Some of them are lost forever leaving to trace behind them.