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Description
66 million years ago in the Maastrichtian of end of the Cretaceous period in what will become the Maastricht formation in the Netherlands, a Betasuchus bredai, a 3-meter long abelisaur, walks some rocks near the sea in search of any fish that may have washed up for it to eat. Many ichthyornithine birds, pretty much Cretaceous equivalents of seagulls, fly around and it decides to try catching one. As the Betasuchus prepares to pounce at one of the birds, something else catches it. A large marine lizard, Mosasaurus hoffmanni, 14 meters long, suddenly emerges from the sea and grabs the unwary abelisaur by the tail. Such a hunting tactic is risky for the mosasaur as it is at risk of beaching itself in such shallow water and it is unable to move on land (like a whale), but doing it right, it has made a successful hunt. The hunt causes much noise and splashing and is noticed by just about every animal around, including a second Betasuchus on the sandy beach. It was hunting a Asteriornis maastrichtensis, a ground bird related to ducks and chickens, but has stopped to see what that pound splash sound was, giving the bird a chance to escape. A 5-meter long hadrosaur dinosaur, Orthomerus dolloi, has been startled by the splash and makes a run for it. A small brown enantiornithine bird and a Maastrichtidelphys meurismeti, a small mammal on a branch, have also noticed this.

Mosasaurus was a huge marine lizard first found in the late 1700s. As no similar animal was known before, it was at first thought to be an extinct whale or crocodile and the specimens were nicknamed “the beast of Maastricht” after the Dutch city it was found near. Now known to be related to monitor lizards, Mosasaurus was among the largest marine animals of its time and was a predator capable of hunting sharks, turtles and other marine reptiles. Modern killer whales or orcas are known to hunt seals occasionally by beaching themselves to grab them, so perhaps Mosasaurus was also capable of hunting land animals in a similar way?

Betasuchus is a 3-meter theropod dinosaur known only from a femur found in 1820. It was once deemed a species of Megalosaurus (but what theropod wasn’t?) but is now thought to be an abelisauroid. Some have suggested it is synonymous with Tarascosaurus, but this is mostly deemed wrong and Betasuchus is deemed distinct from it usually.

The Maastricht formation is a marine formation, but some land animal remains, while rare, are known. Other than Betasuchus, the hadrosaur Orthomerus is known, and so is Asteriornis, a bird that may be the last common ancestor of chickens and ducks and has been dubbed “the wonder chicken”. Maastrichtidelphys is known from a single tooth, but it has been identified as a herpetotheriid marsupial. An unnamed enantiornithine bird is known according to this , and so is an ornithurine bird related to Ichthyornis according to this .

Yes this drawing is indeed partly inspired by the scene in Walking With Dinosaurs where a Liopleurodon grabs a Eustreptospondylus. The colours of the mosasaur are based on the one in Saurian.

Description
66 million years ago in the Maastrichtian of end of the Cretaceous period in what will become the Maastricht formation in the Netherlands, a Betasuchus bredai, a 3-meter long abelisaur, walks some rocks near the sea in search of any fish that may have washed up for it to eat. Many ichthyornithine birds, pretty much Cretaceous equivalents of seagulls, fly around and it decides to try catching one. As the Betasuchus prepares to pounce at one of the birds, something else catches it. A large marine lizard, Mosasaurus hoffmanni, 14 meters long, suddenly emerges from the sea and grabs the unwary abelisaur by the tail. Such a hunting tactic is risky for the mosasaur as it is at risk of beaching itself in such shallow water and it is unable to move on land (like a whale), but doing it right, it has made a successful hunt. The hunt causes much noise and splashing and is noticed by just about every animal around, including a second Betasuchus on the sandy beach. It was hunting a Asteriornis maastrichtensis, a ground bird related to ducks and chickens, but has stopped to see what that pound splash sound was, giving the bird a chance to escape. A 5-meter long hadrosaur dinosaur, Orthomerus dolloi, has been startled by the splash and makes a run for it. A small brown enantiornithine bird and a Maastrichtidelphys meurismeti, a small mammal on a branch, have also noticed this.

Mosasaurus was a huge marine lizard first found in the late 1700s. As no similar animal was known before, it was at first thought to be an extinct whale or crocodile and the specimens were nicknamed “the beast of Maastricht” after the Dutch city it was found near. Now known to be related to monitor lizards, Mosasaurus was among the largest marine animals of its time and was a predator capable of hunting sharks, turtles and other marine reptiles. Modern killer whales or orcas are known to hunt seals occasionally by beaching themselves to grab them, so perhaps Mosasaurus was also capable of hunting land animals in a similar way?

Betasuchus is a 3-meter theropod dinosaur known only from a femur found in 1820. It was once deemed a species of Megalosaurus (but what theropod wasn’t?) but is now thought to be an abelisauroid. Some have suggested it is synonymous with Tarascosaurus, but this is mostly deemed wrong and Betasuchus is deemed distinct from it usually.

The Maastricht formation is a marine formation, but some land animal remains, while rare, are known. Other than Betasuchus, the hadrosaur Orthomerus is known, and so is Asteriornis, a bird that may be the last common ancestor of chickens and ducks and has been dubbed “the wonder chicken”. Maastrichtidelphys is known from a single tooth, but it has been identified as a herpetotheriid marsupial. An unnamed enantiornithine bird is known according to this , and so is an ornithurine bird related to Ichthyornis according to this .

Yes this drawing is indeed partly inspired by the scene in Walking With Dinosaurs where a Liopleurodon grabs a Eustreptospondylus. The colours of the mosasaur are based on the one in Saurian.