【Prehistoric murder scene】The king of big stomachs in the Cretaceous Ocean!
Prehistoric homicide
Neptune dragons have the title of "Cretaceous big stomach king" because they have really good appetites, and a bunch of fossils with indistinguishable contents become the best evidence!
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Those who often read my articles must be no strangers to the Western Interior Seaway, a wide shallow sea that existed in the late Cretaceous period and divided the North American continent in two, and has also become home to many famous sea monsters, the leader of which is Neptunosaurus, which has also become the well-deserved sea king of this ocean. Today's western inland seaways no longer exist, but fossils of many marine creatures can be found in the Midwest of Canada and the United States, and a complete prehistoric ecosystem and food chain can be constructed, and Neptunosaurus stands at the top of the food chain.
Illustration: Restoration of the Western Inland Sea Route, image from the Internet
Illustration: Ecological restoration of the Western Inland Seaway, picture from the Internet
Many of the Neptune fossils found in the United States are preserved in the Geological Museum at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, including a fossil numbered SDSMT 10439 from the Gammon Ferruginous Member of the Pierre Shale Formation, discovered in 1978.
Illustration: South Dakota School of Mining Technology school emblem, picture from the Internet
Illustration: Fossil, number SDSMT 10439, image from the Internet
At first glance at the fossil, you will definitely not be able to tell that it belongs to Neptunosaurus, although you can see many bones, and even the bones of the pelvis and hind limbs, but these fossils do not belong to Neptunosaurus alone. After careful cleaning and identification, paleontologists found that the pile of fossils came from six animals, in addition to Neptunosaurus, there were Odontaspis, Bananogmius, which belonged to fish, Hesperornis, which belonged to birds, and even Platecarpus and Clidastes, which belonged to the same mosasaur family as Neptunosaurus. The bones of so many sea creatures are preserved in the form of stomach contents in the belly of Neptunosaurus, which is obviously a delicious meal for Neptunosaurus.
Illustration: Parts of fossils from different species, picture from the Internet
Illustration: Sand cone-toothed shark, picture from the Internet
Caption: Bannerburgminus fish, picture from the Internet
Illustration: Dusk bird, picture from the Internet
Illustration: Plate ankle dragon, picture from the Internet
How big was the food swallowed by Neptunosaurus? Taking the sclerosaurus as an example, based on the preserved square bones, wing bones and several cervical vertebrae, it is speculated that its completed body length is more than 4 meters, and it is swallowed completely. Restored with the incomplete skeleton of this Neptunosaurus, its length should reach about 10 meters. It is really unbelievable that a 10-meter Neptune dragon can swallow prey equivalent to half its body length. In fact, Neptunosaurus has a trick, its joint connecting the skull to the jaw is not firm, and it can even dislocate and reposition itself. When it is necessary to swallow food larger than its own head, the mosasaur's jaw will dislocate, suddenly expanding the space of the throat when swallowing, similar to today's snakes, after all, mosasaurs and snakes are close relatives.
Illustration: The part of the fossil that belongs to the hard vertebral dragon, the picture comes from the Internet
Illustration: Restoration of Sclerosaurus, picture from the Internet
It was by virtue of the "dislocation" stunt that this Neptune swallowed various prey, including the hard vertebral dragon, and when it was full of food and drink, it did not know what reason died, so it preserved the last meal as a fossil.
SDSMT 10439 is just one of many fossil specimens that demonstrate Neptunosaurus's powerful predatory ability, but it is the most famous specimen, establishing Neptunosaurus as a well-deserved king in the western inland seaway, and also the king of the stomach that swallows everything!
Illustration: A restoration of Neptunosaurus, picture from the Internet
Text Editor: Jiang's Microraptor
The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted
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