Prehistoric Wild: Life in the Mesozoic

Race From the Sea Dragons (180 MYA)

Posidonia Shale, Austria, 180 Million Years Ago

It is solar noon and the ball of yellow shine we know as the sun has hit its daily peak. In the clear blue sky, it's a still, unchanging display of rays amongst the few floating puffs of cloud. On the ocean surface below, the light dances and glimmers across its surface. Shifting tides flowing across the sea mix with this reflecting shine to create an almost hypnotic display.

    While it may not appear so, this massive body of water is what will one day be southern Europe. If Vienna were built here as it is today, it would be drowned in hundreds of feet of seawater. Polar ice caps have yet to take shape from how much warmer the global climate of the early Jurassic world is. As a result, the amount of water in the earth's oceans is much greater than it would be over 180 million years later.

    These tropical waters are home to many forms of life. Some are familiar to us today, while others are alien to today's oceans. A glimpse of this can be seen on the salty sea surface.

    Atop the clear reflective blue, a few stray logs float. These were brought out here by one of a few past monsoons that are common in this area. At first glance, all that is seen is a simple wet hunk of driftwood. However, its true nature is revealed just under the glistening surface.

    On the bottom of these logs, strange structures grow out from them, flowing in the ocean current. They attach themselves to the wood through long, thin, bristly stems, reaching anywhere from 20 to 80 feet in length. Hanging at the ends of these stalks is a bulbous, flower-like body with fern-like, bristled stems sprouting from them. These red structures are crinoids, or as they're most commonly called "sea lilies." Despite what their name and appearance may suggest, these peculiar organisms are not plants. Rather they are a type of echinoderm, the same group of aquatic organisms that includes sea urchins, starfish, brittle stars, and sea cucumbers. Not only are they still around today, but they're among the earliest forms of life to ever evolve, long before even the dinosaurs.

    Normally, these odd creatures would be found attached to the sea floor. Though sometimes, they'll attach themselves to the odd piece of floating wood. This allows them easier access to the algae and plankton they feed on, which get caught in their stem-like tentacles and sent to their hidden mouths.

    Tens or even hundreds of sea lilies can find themselves attached to these trunks, depending on the size of the wood. Such mass gatherings are also bound to attract predators. The first of these start swarming in mass around the odd structures.

    It is a school of Leptolepis fish. Their appearance is like that of modern herring, though they're unrelated. Gray scales cover their body along with white ones on their underbelly. Their gray, cartilaginous fins help to propel them through the seawater.

    As the fish flap their bodies in place around the log, they start to bite and nibble at the sea lilies. Dozens of them gather around the plant-like animals to munch them off the log. With no defenses, they're helpless against the hungry Leptolepis school. Some detach themselves and gently float down to the hidden ocean floor.

    Soon, another predatory animal is attracted to the gathering. It propels itself at astonishing speeds around the log, swallowing the fish around it. Frantically, the school begins to swim away at blinding speed. The predator reveals itself as it stops to bite down on one more fish.

    It is an Eurhinosaurus, a member of the ichthyosaur family of fish-like marine reptiles. Like fish, it sports pectoral and pelvic fins attached to its 23-foot-long body. It also has a dorsal fin in addition to the ones on its tail that greatly resemble that of a fish or shark. Like many other ichthyosaurs, it has large eyes that grant it excellent vision, even in the deeper, darker parts of the sea. What makes it unique amongst its family is its peculiar jaws. The top one is extremely long, almost twice the length of the lower one. This long, spear-like jaw is littered with sideways pointing teeth, giving it an exceptional overbite. Like all ichthyosaurs, its skin differs from most reptiles by having flexible, scaleless skin like those of dolphins. In the case of the Eurhinosaurus, this skin is primarily a dark navy blue with solid white stripes and an underbelly of the same color.