HOME | DD

Olmagon — From the Depths Below

#birdseyeview #cretaceous #dinosaur #lizard #marinereptile #mesozoic #mosasaur #ocean #paleoart #paleontology #sauropod #seabird #tethys #titanosaur #topview #waves #ichthyornis #mosasaurus #hateg #maastrichtian #mosasauridae #paleoillustration #paludititan #ichthyornithes
Published: 2024-03-08 00:20:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 18088; Favourites: 332; Downloads: 12
Redirect to original
Description 66 million years ago near the end of the Cretaceous period, an adult Paludititan nalatzensis swims across the Tethys Ocean which covers much of Europe while ichthyornithean birds fly around it. The titanosaur has left its home, Hateg Island, and is a powerful swimmer capable of spending long periods of time at sea. But while it may be one of the largest animals on its home island, there are much bigger creatures lurking in the Tethys Sea, ones that swim much faster and have a taste for flesh. A large Mosasaurus hoffmanni makes the titanosaur looks small while swimming beneath it, circling the dinosaur and judging its fitness to determine whether it should make the Paludititan its next meal.

This drawing was made for DinoDragoZilla17 , who requested in a comment on my profile for me to draw Mosasaurus fighting a large herbivorous dinosaur at sea. Yes I realize the comment was made almost a year ago, but I am both a busy guy and a huge procrastinator (mostly the latter). With the herbivorous dinosaur in question being left to my choice, I chose to use a dwarf sauropod since sauropods are normally truly gigantic, thus the mosasaur will look like an absolute colossus at first glance before you realize I used a dwarf species. And I figured a top view like this would reach that effect the best.

Mosasaurus hoffmannii is a pretty popular species among paleontology enthusiasts, and it deserves the attention honestly. After all, having first been discovered in 1764, it is the first giant Mesozoic animal to be described and was very important for the establishment of paleontology as a science. Reaching over 12 meters long, this marine lizard (yes mosasaurs are true lizards that became fully aquatic) was among the largest sea creatures of its time, living at the end of the Cretaceous period in the Tethys Ocean. All mosasaurs were predators, and Mosasaurus itself was no different, capable of tearing into large prey with its sharp teeth, which may have included large fish, other marine reptiles, and perhaps the occasional dinosaur that strayed into the sea.

While the Tethys Ocean covered much of Europe during the Mesozoic, it also left parts of the continent exposed as islands. Perhaps the best known of these is Hateg Island, located in present-day Romania. At the end of the Cretaceous period, Hateg was home to a variety of dinosaurs which were smaller than their relatives from elsewhere. For example one of the Hateg titanosaurs was Paludititan, which was around 6 meters long, while related species from France and Spain often reached over 10 meters in length, and some of the largest known titanosaurs worldwide grew over 25 meters long. This is a classic case of insular dwarfism, in which large animals become smaller on islands due to the limited available resources. With large lungs keeping them buoyant and a neck that could keep their head way above the surface, sauropods were capable swimmers, and would have been well-capable of oceanic dispersal, explaining how the ancestors of Hateg's titanosaurs got there to begin with. The dwarf sauropods would probably have been able to swim and leave their island too, though with their smaller size they'd be more vulnerable to any marine predators they meet on the way (and even those who reach land probably didn't enjoy meeting the local large theropods).

I added some ichthyornithean birds for atmosphere too, based mostly on Ichthyornis. I don't think any fossils of them are known from Hateg or the surrounding area but fragmentary ichthyornithean remains are known from elsewhere in Europe and North America that show they were quite widespread during the Late Cretaceous. Mosasaurus hoffmannii isn't known from eastern Europe either but it has been found in other sites across Europe and can be inferred to have ranged across much of the Tethys. Also pelagic animals generally are widespread and can fucking MOVE, they ain't stuck to the one spot their fossils are known.
Related content
Comments: 29

OlivierDudot [2024-03-11 15:53:23 +0000 UTC]

👍: 3 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to OlivierDudot [2024-03-17 02:11:44 +0000 UTC]

👍: 3 ⏩: 0

Megaraptor70 [2024-03-08 15:40:39 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to Megaraptor70 [2024-03-08 18:25:26 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Megaraptor70 In reply to Olmagon [2024-03-08 18:48:23 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Evenape [2024-03-08 15:37:41 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to Evenape [2024-03-08 18:26:07 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Gondwanaman [2024-03-08 14:16:47 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to Gondwanaman [2024-03-08 17:31:28 +0000 UTC]

👍: 2 ⏩: 0

asari13 [2024-03-08 12:24:05 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to asari13 [2024-03-08 12:25:20 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

torm28 [2024-03-08 04:05:57 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to torm28 [2024-03-08 11:20:37 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

torm28 In reply to Olmagon [2024-03-08 11:21:40 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

DaDinoNerdBoi [2024-03-08 02:46:10 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 3

Olmagon In reply to DaDinoNerdBoi [2024-03-17 23:19:14 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

DierLikesDoingArt In reply to DaDinoNerdBoi [2024-03-08 05:23:38 +0000 UTC]

👍: 2 ⏩: 1

DaDinoNerdBoi In reply to DierLikesDoingArt [2024-03-08 05:52:13 +0000 UTC]

👍: 2 ⏩: 0

JWE1993 In reply to DaDinoNerdBoi [2024-03-08 03:36:34 +0000 UTC]

👍: 2 ⏩: 1

DierLikesDoingArt In reply to JWE1993 [2024-03-08 05:24:03 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

JWE1993 In reply to DierLikesDoingArt [2024-03-08 05:24:23 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Pterodactylus342 [2024-03-08 00:57:41 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to Pterodactylus342 [2024-03-08 21:58:13 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Megapredator5010 [2024-03-08 00:27:58 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to Megapredator5010 [2024-03-08 00:56:08 +0000 UTC]

👍: 4 ⏩: 2

creodont In reply to Olmagon [2024-03-08 06:13:36 +0000 UTC]

👍: 2 ⏩: 1

Olmagon In reply to creodont [2024-03-08 12:12:05 +0000 UTC]

👍: 4 ⏩: 1

OlivierDudot In reply to Olmagon [2024-03-11 15:38:26 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Megapredator5010 In reply to Olmagon [2024-03-08 00:58:28 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0