Introduction Apsopelix and Pelecorapis were two genera of closely-related prehistoric saltwater fish which lived during the middle to late Cretaceous Period. Fossils of Apsopelix have been found in England, France, and in the American states of Montana, South Dakota, Colorado,… Read More ›
Thalassomedon, meaning “lord of the sea”, was a 38 foot long elasmosaurid plesiosaur which lived within the Mowry Sea, the shallow sea that covered North America during the middle of the Cretaceous Period 97-95 million years ago. In March 1939,… Read More ›
Brachauchenius was a 15 foot long pliosaur which lived in the shallow sea that once covered the middle of North America during the middle Cretaceous Period 100-90 million years ago. Fossils of this animal were first found by Charles H…. Read More ›
Strophodus was a 10 foot long hybodont shark which specialized in eating shellfish. It appeared during the early Jurassic Period and went extinct during the early Cretaceous Period, making it one of the longest-lived shark genera in the fossil record…. Read More ›
Trinacromerum was a 12 foot long plesiosaur which lived within the Mowry Sea, the shallow sea that covered North America during the middle of the Cretaceous Period 95 million years ago. The holotype specimen was found in 1888 within the… Read More ›
Platypterygius, meaning “flat fin”, was a genus of ichthyosaur which lived during the middle of the Cretaceous Period approximately 115-95 million years ago. It was one of the last ichthyosaurs to exist before the entire group went extinct. Traditionally treated… Read More ›
Cryptoclidus was a 15 foot long plesiosaur which inhabited the prehistoric Tethys Sea, which once covered much of Europe, during the middle of the Jurassic Period 165-160 million years ago. Fossils of Cryptoclidus have been found within southern England and… Read More ›
Leucichthyops vagans was a species of prehistoric salmonid fish which lived in what’s now western North America during the middle of the Cretaceous Period approximately 100 million years ago. The species was named in 1919 by Theodore D. A. Cockerell,… Read More ›
There were numerous kinds of marine reptiles which swam in the oceans during the Mesozoic Era, including the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Less well known are the marine crocodilians, or more accurately, crocodylomorphs. These animals are known as the thalattosuchians,… Read More ›
We all know that dinosaurs walked the earth in prehistoric times, and many of us are also aware that pterosaurs flew across the skies and fearsome marine reptiles swam in the oceans. Some of these marine reptiles (which weren’t dinosaurs,… Read More ›
