Sea Monsters
DECEMBER 2005
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In Learn More the National Geographic magazine team shares some of its best sources and other information to expand your knowledge of our featured subjects. Special thanks to the Research Division.
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 Did You Know?
To aid in capturing prey, some ancient marine reptiles evolved features such as supersize eyes, fearsome teeth, or extremely long necks. Thalassomedon's 20-foot (6-meter) neck helped it ambush schools of fish from below. With 62 vertebrae, the neck stretched about 14 feet (4 meters) longer than a modern giraffe's, which has only seven vertebrae. But while Thalassomedon may seem like a blueprint for the Loch Ness monster, scientists say its neck probably couldn't have risen too far above the surface; buoyant underwater, its head and neck would not easily be supported in thin air. Also, writes paleontologist Michael Everhart in Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea, "since the eyes of a plesiosaur are located on top of the skull and are generally directed upward, the plesiosaur would almost have to turn its head upside down to look down at the water in search of prey from above the surface." Plesiosaurs like Thalassomedon had ample food below the surface, where they likely feasted on fish such as Apsopelix, which were abundant some 95 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period. Easing into a school from below, Thalassomedon would turn its head to the side, snapping its jaws on the quarry.
—Michael Klesius and Kathy Maher
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Related Links
Oceans of Kansas
www.oceansofkansas.com
Take an in-depth look at the fascinating marine creatures—including mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and giant fish—that lived in the vast sea that covered the central part of North America during the late Cretaceous.
Ichthyosaur Page
www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/motani/ichthyo
Want to learn (at least) three strange facts about ichthyosaurs? The evolution and behavior of these ancient marine reptiles is described by paleontologist Ryosuke Motani at this website.
PALEOMAP Project
www.scotese.com/earth.htm
Travel back in time! Join geologist Chris Scotese as he charts the changing distribution of land and sea during the Mesozoic era (some 250 million to 65 million years ago), when reptiles ruled the Earth.
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Bibliography
Callaway, Jack M., and Elizabeth L. Nicholls. Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press, 1997.
Coleman, Loren, and Patrick Huyghe. The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2003.
Ellis, Richard. Sea Dragons: Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. University Press of Kansas, 2003.
Everhart, Michael J. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, 2005.
Marven, Nigel. Chased by Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Predators of the Deep. DK Publishing, 2004.
Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press, 2005.
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NGS Resources
Mandel, Peter. "In Search of the Giant Squid." National Geographic Kids (March 2004), 34-5.
Hogan, Dan. "Sea Monsters." National Geographic Explorer! (September 2003), 14-9.
Grupper, Jonathan. Destination: Deep Sea. National Geographic Books, 2000.
Voss, Gilbert L. "Squids: Jet-powered Torpedoes of the Deep." National Geographic (March 1967), 386-411.
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