What did the Xiphactinus eat?
fish
A 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) Xiphactinus could open its jaw wide enough to swallow six-foot-long (two-meter-long) fish whole, but it itself was occasionally prey to the shark Cretoxyrhina.
Is the Xiphactinus real?
Xiphactinus (from Latin and Greek for “sword-ray”) is an extinct genus of large (5.1 metres (16.7 ft)) predatory marine bony fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Albian to Maastrichtian). When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon (to which it was, however, not related).
How big would a Xiphactinus get?
Xiphactinus was one of the largest bony fish ever to have lived and was truly a monster. It ranged in size from 15-20 feet (4.5 – 6m) and would have looked like a toothy, oversized tarpon.
When did the Xiphactinus live?
Lived: Late Cretaceous, 87-65 million years ago.
How big is a Dunkleosteus?
Up to 20 feet in length and weighing more than 1 ton, this arthrodire fish was capable of chopping prehistoric sharks into chum! Dunkleosteus had a massive skull made of thick, bony plates, and 2 sets of fang-like protrusions near the front of powerful, self-sharpening jawbones.
Where are Xiphactinus fossils found?
Xiphactinus fossils have been found in Venezuela, Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States. The first specimens were found in the Niobrara Chalk Formation of Kansas. Elsewhere in the US they have been found in Cretaceous formations on the east coast; Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and New Jersey.
How big is a Liopleurodon?
1,000 – 1,700 kg
Liopleurodon/Mass
How long did the Dunkleosteus live?
370-360 million years ago
BBC – Science & Nature – Sea Monsters – Fact File: Dunkleosteus. Speedy, powerful and happy to eat most things – this was the creature to avoid, 360 million years ago. Lived: Late Devonian, 370-360 million years ago.
Why is Dunkleosteus important?
It is known to be 346 in (8.8 m) long and could weigh up to 8000 lb (3600 kg), which makes it one of the largest placoderms ever lived. The Dunkleosteus is known for its big and powerful build and is known to have an immense bite force that could chop prehistoric sharks easily.
Is a Liopleurodon a herbivore?
Liopleurodon (/ˌlaɪoʊˈplʊərədɒn/; meaning ‘smooth-sided teeth’) is a genus of large, carnivorous marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs.
How does the Dunkleosteus eat?
It was streamlined and shark-like. It ate fish, sharks and even its own kind. And it seems that Dunkleosteus suffered from indigestion as a result: its fossils are often associated with regurgitated, semi-digested remains of fish.
What kind of food did the Xiphactinus eat?
Xiphactinus was a carnivore of the Cretaceous seas, but not a top one: it was prey to giant mosasaurs that lived alongside it at that time, as shown in the introduction to Sea Monsters.
Can a Xiphactinus swallow a Hesperornis whole?
Xiphactinus could swallow a Hesperornis whole in one go. However, there are also fossils of this fish showing that it had died having choked on such large prey
Is the Xiphactinus a fish or a shark?
It was a fish-eat-fish world back in the Mesozoic Era, though, so you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that numerous Xiphactinus fossils have been discovered containing the partially digested remains of smaller fish. (Finding a fish inside a fish inside a shark would be a true fossil trifecta.)
How big did the Xiphactinus audax fish get?
A 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) Xiphactinus could open its jaw wide enough to swallow six-foot-long (two-meter-long) fish whole, but it itself was occasionally prey to the shark Cretoxyrhina. Xiphactinus trolled an ancient ocean called the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of central North America during the Cretaceous.