Walking With Dinosaurs Remastered

Cruel Sea

Previously on Walking With Dinosaurs, we followed sauropods, the largest land animals of all time. Today we explore the waters of England and watch what the oceans looked like during the Age of Dinosaurs.

Chapter 4: Cruel Sea

Time: 146 Million Years ago, Late Jurassic
Place: Northern Europe
Late afternoon on a Jurassic coast, a predator is hunting for his favorite prey. Peering through the water, the carnivore aims his attack down to the last millimeter. Suddenly a crocodilian like shape shoots out of the water and grabs the eustreptospondylus by the head, and thrashes back and forth before roughly yanking it into the water. The attacker is a 2 ton Dakosaurus, despite appearances this beast is not a dinosaur, and it's not a Mosasaur either, we still have at least 66 million years before they appear, instead Dakosaurus is a type of crocodilian, though it doesn't look it. After the Triassic, crocodilians split into two families, freshwater crocodilians, such as Deinosuchus, alligators, and crocodiles, and the other extinct family, the marine crocodilians, they differed from their inland cousins by lacking the signature osteoderms and adapting their legs into flippers for powering through the water, and like mosasaurs, they also possess tail flukes. This family flourished throughout the Jurassic, but went into decline towards the end, and Dakosaurus is one of the few members of this family left, and being around 25 feet long, it is one of the largest predators in these waters. Believe it or not, this coral reef will one day be Germany, during the Late Jurassic, Europe was just a scattering of islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Dinosaurs do not rule here, as this is the domain of marine reptiles. These cryptoclidus are resting in the shallow waters. This way, they are out of reach of larger predators out at sea, and can quickly escape from any land based predators.

And in the coral reefs lurks one of these predators, an ichthyosaur swims out of the coral in search of small crustaceans, but behind him looms a huge mouth, and in seconds the jaw scoops him up and crushes him to death. His killer is a liopleurodon, but his prey was only a pup, and the pliosaur itself is only about 30 feet long, only 5 feet longer than the Dakosaurus. But in spite of his size, liopleurodon is still an accomplished killer, banana sized teeth stick out of its mouth, and are arranged so that they interlock with each other, ensuring nothing escapes. Four 5 foot long flippers power the plesiosaur through the water at up to 30 mph. But they also have a unique weapon, their sense of smell, unlike modern sea snakes, they don't use their tongues, but instead use a strategy more similar to that of a star nosed mole. They exhale an air bubble, then reinhale it, the air bubble absorbs the smells in the water, and when it is brought back it, it brings it to the smell receptors. This strategy works so well that is almost on par with that of a shark's in terms of power.

Back on the islands of land, a new species has popped up. This is an archaeopteryx, it is only about as big as a pigeon, but it is a huge step in the fossil record. This is the world's first bird. Birds were originally thought to just be close relatives of the dinosaurs, branching off from a common ancestor and a different family. But after sinosauropteryx was discovered with feathers, birds were placed as a species of dinosaur. Yes, the rooster you heard crow this morning, the blue jays flapping around in your backyard, and the vultures circling that corpse are all dinosaurs. As one of the most primitive birds, archaeopteryx has traits of both non avian ancestors and avian descendants. It's covered in feathers, has wings, and nests in trees like a bird, but it has teeth, a long, bony tail, and claws on its arms, like a dinosaur. Suddenly the archaeopteryx flaps its way up a tree before entering a small hole in the side. For a long time, it was debated if archaeopteryx was actually capable of flight, with many claiming that the absence of a large sternum for flight muscles to attach to meant that it's wings were not strong enough to provide enough thrust for the animal to fly, claiming that it used its claws to climb trees and glide back down. More modern studies show that archaeopteryx in fact could fly, though not as gracefully or efficiently as the contemporary pterosaurs or more advanced birds, the muscles for flying would have attached to the shoulder blade instead, meaning that it was likely far more tiring for archaeopteryx to fly for long periods, and it likely walked or climbed most of the time, while only flying to escape predators or to assist it in climbing. Soon enough, birds will become the heirs to the throne of the skies.

Back on the rocky coasts roost the current rulers of the sky, rhamphorynchus, a small pterosaur makes its home on the rocky shores, this is because they rely on the ocean for their food. The little pterosaur leaps into the air, unfurling his wing membranes and flying away, his main targets are fish and small squid, and his long, forward facing teeth are up to the job. And soon he spots a huge school of small, sardine like fish, and he plunges into the water. It was originally believed that pterosaurs were much more bat like, and couldn't fly if their wing membranes got wet. It is now known that this wasn't true, as their primary method of fishing would have been plunge feeding, similarly to a cape gannet, and it would be counterintuitive to not have water resistant wings. In fact, most pterosaurs use their wings to propel themselves through the water. Several other rhamphorynchus have also found this school of fish, but they aren't the only ones, the dakosaurus also lurks here, waiting for one of the pterosaurs to come too close, using the fish as cover. Suddenly he lunges, grabbing one of the rhamphorynchus in his jaws and crushing it instantly. The cryptoclydus are also here, catching fish by using their long necks to reach into the school. In just hours, half the school is gone and the predators move on.

Nearby, the liopleurodon has come across an invader, another liopleurodon has ventured into his waters, and naturally, the resident male doesn't appreciate an intruder. He lunges forward and bites the other liopleurodon's rear flipper, it's only a warning bite, but it's more than enough to send the interloper fleeing.

The Next Day

Back on the island, one of the only non avian dinosaurs here patrols the shoreline, this is a eustreptospondylus, 15 feet long and just over a ton, it is the largest dinosaur in Europe at this time. This theropod is a scavenger, mainly because there's nothing to really hunt on the scattered archipelago, forcing him to patrol the beaches in search of carrion or stranded sea animals, but he himself is about to become food. Dakosaurus also hunts along the beaches, and it uses a surprisingly cunning strategy, it forces itself out of the water and plays dead, mimicking a stranded plesiosaur. The eustreptosplondylus cautiously approaches, and when it leans in to sniff at his meal, the 'meal' jumps to life and grabs him by the neck. Then he slings the unfortunate theropod into the waves, drowning it to death. Archaeopteryx also patrols the beaches to find food, but unlike the eustreptospondylus, it goes after much smaller prey. He sneaks up on an unprotected rhamphorynchus nest, and in a quick swipe, he grabs one of the eggs and runs off into the forest. But unbeknownst to the little egg thief, there was a reason the egg was abandoned. As soon as he breaks it open the smell of rot overtakes the immediate area, but the archaeopteryx digs in anyway. When organisms rot, fermentation bacteria produce a new product called ethanol, in other words, alcohol. The archaeopteryx, confused by the seemingly spinning ground, tries to escape up a tree, only to immediately lose his balance and fall onto the ground. Panicked, he then tries to fly away, but immediately crashes into the tree.

He finally tries one last attempt to climb the tree, he loses his balance again, but this time he tries to stabilize himself by flapping his wings, but long story short, it doesn't work, and the poor bird is left dangling by his foot. Defeated, the archaeopteryx gives up and flops onto the ground before passing out.

That Night

On the beach, the wind is starting to pick up. It's a warning sign of a huge storm. The Jurassic is the hottest period in the Phanerozoic, and that heat and humidity has supercharged the storms, hurricanes here are almost twice as strong as modern ones. And the following day the hurricane makes landfall, gale force winds violently rip apart the trees. Unfortunate animals caught in the surf are repeatedly bashed against the coral.

The Next Morning

Dawn after the storm, and the beach is littered with carcasses, almost 90% of them are rhamphorynchus, scared into flight by the storm, many of them to ruthlessly battered by the powerful winds. By some miracle, however, the archaeopteryx has survived, and trotting down the beach, he comes across two much larger bodies. The Dakosaurus and liopleurodon, disoriented by the waves, both predators were violently smashed against the reef, and the Dakosaurus still has several huge pieces of coral jammed into his flanks. The marine crocodile is dead, but the liopleurodon still struggles to stay alive. However, it's a futile struggle, pliosaurs are far too heavy to move about on land like a seal, and his own weight is slowly suffocating him. Other scavengers are also closing in, more eustreptospondylus have been circling the duo for several minutes and now they feel safe enough to approach. The liopleurodon still has enough fight left to try and snap at the theropods, but he is in their element now. The eustreptospondylus simply take advantage of his nonexistent mobility and walk around to his tail to begin their feast. The once mighty kings of the ocean can now do nothing as the scavenging underdogs tear them apart.

Next Time on Walking With Dinosaurs: We see the land of the early Cretaceous, and watch the predecessor to tyrannosaurus eke out a living.