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Description
Liopleurodon ferox

The Plesiosaurs were the most unique of all Marine Reptiles. Ranging in shapes and sizes from the long-necked Elasmosaurines to the dolphin-like Polycotylids. However, another clade of Plesiosaurs, the short-necked Pliosaurs were among the most iconic. And the most famous of all Pliosaurs would be Liopleurodon dominating the Jurassic Seas of Europe from 166-155,000,000 years.

In 1873, during the early days of Paleontology, Henri Émile Sauvage described fossils sent to him found near the Franco-Belgian border. The fossils were three teeth around 2.75 inches long. He coined the species, "Liopleurodon ferox", the genus name meaning "Smooth-Sided Tooth" and species name meaning "savage". Fossils of this creature have since been found in France and England, as well as referable material found in Germany. Another species described four years prior has been assigned to the genus, known as Liopleurodon pachydeirus, previously assigned to the related Pliosaurus.

Liopleurodon had the standard Pliosaur body plan. Four flippers, a muscular neck, a bulky body, and a massive head equipped with sharp and robust teeth. Recent studies have posited that all Plesiosaurs may have had a tail fluke. Other marine reptiles such as Mosasaurs and Ichthyosaurs had tail flukes. However, its believed Plesiosaurs did not use them for active propulsion like Mosasaurs or Ichthyosaurs given their tails were short and unable to flex horizontally. Perhaps just using them to help reduce drag in the water. Studies of well-preserved Plesiosaur tails have shown evidence of attachment points for a fluke. However, without a mummified/well-preserved fossil, its structure is completely speculative.
In terms of how this animal swam, most modern paleontologists think they sort of flew through the water by alternating up and downstrokes of their flippers. More recent studies theorized that they could have changed how they propelled through the water by utilizing all four of their flippers. However, without studying an actual animal, paleontologists will never truly know how these animals swam in life.

At this time in the Jurassic Period, most of Europe resembled a tropical archipelago similar to the Bahamas. With shallow seas cutting through what would today be the European mainland.
It would have been one of the apex predators in the ecosystem. Hunting smaller Pliosaurs and Plesiosaurs, as well as the Ichthyosaurs and sharks in the region.

In 1999, the Emmy Award-Winning Documentary Series Walking With Dinosaurs premiered. The series made Liopleurodon famous the world over, showing it to be the largest of all Jurassic ocean predators. However, it was drastically oversized with the narrator stating that it was 80ft long and weighed 150 tons. The paleontological community accepts that Liopleurodon in reality would have reached sizes of around 16-21ft long. With fragmentary remains suggesting a maximum of around 33ft. Not even close to the wildly oversized 80ft.
So, how did Tim Haines and his filmmakers arrive at this massive size? Fragmentary remains from the Oxford Clay were cited. Paleontologists speculated these were vertebral fragments from a massive Pliosaur. Estimated at being around 65ft long if it was a Pliosaur. The remains were assigned to Liopleurodon and it was assumed that a 65ft individual could have gotten even larger, so the filmmakers bumped it up to 80ft based on their speculation and more importantly, for drama/spectacle. However, it's now believed these fragments belonged not to Liopleurodon or even Pliosaur, but to a Sauropod dinosaur.
Furthermore, the figure of 150 tons was based on an extrapolated figure from similarly sized whales. However, modern baleen whales get their massive bulk from the blubber beneath their skin. While there is evidence that marine reptiles like Ichthyosaurs had convergently evolved blubber for insulation, no evidence of blubber has been found in Plesiosaurs. In reality, modern estimates have placed Liopleurodon around 1-3.5 tons.

Nonetheless, its iconic appearance in Walking With Dinosaurs made it a household name for kids growing up who were fascinated by dinosaurs and other extinct animals. However, while it still lives on in the minds of countless paleoartists, children, and paleontologists, Liopleurodon itself could not exist forever. Liopleurodon vanished around 155,000,000 years ago, the only remains left were the fossils of this awesome predator.
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Well, here's my first Pliosaur and it's the most iconic of them all Liopleurodon. I also included a little snack for it to munch on, being Hybodus, I just decided the pose I put it in of it trying to grab something needed prey so I put it in.
To sound a bit dramatic in describing the scene:

It's mid-day off the coast of a Jurassic island. A lone Hybodus ventures up from the reef, its sensitive nose picking up scents from its surroundings while its lateral line picks up vibrations in the water. Suddenly the Jurassic Shark jolts downward as it picks up something big closing fast, but it's too late. A large 30ft Liopleurodon bears down on it. Its powerful flippers propelling it towards its quarry. Its jaw opens exposing its spike-like teeth and prepares to bite down on the primitive shark.

Okay, dramatic description over, onto a rant about its WWD appearance.

I think the appearance in WWD as inaccurate as it was still makes it the most memorable of all animals in WWD. When I first saw the scene, I thought that it was easily the greatest subversion of our expectations when it takes out the Eustreptospondylus (a lot better than other subversive shows, I'm looking at YOU Game of Thrones).
The way the 100-year old male is officially introduced by Kenneth Branagh when it kills the Opthalmosaurus mother is extremely memorable and still gives me chills seeing the massive jaws clamp down on the mother and her tail falls to the ocean floor.
Finally, how the filmmakers show how the Kaijupleurodon meets his demise by the very animals he preyed upon at the start of the episode. In short, it may have been an oversized kaiju but they at least went to the length to make its behaviors believable, not comically cartoony or anthropomorphizing the big male. All of its behaviors are well within reason for a creature of its size, and the death of the male shows that even the powerful titans of the Jurassic Seas are not invincible to the forces of nature.

Okay, rant over, onto the model itself!!!

In terms of changes I made: I added a fluke, made its neck bulkier, and cleaned up some more shrink-wrapped elements on the skull. I will add the lattermost point is very minor and not visible from this angle. There really isn't much to fix as the skull shape from WWD is fairly accurate to the real animal. As usual with most marine reptiles, no this won't be in Past Meets Present. Enjoy this unique pose with the Hybodus because for now, this is all you're going to get in terms of prehistoric marine life.

Original model by DinosaurManZT2
Liopleurodon (HENDRIX) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Description
Liopleurodon ferox

The Plesiosaurs were the most unique of all Marine Reptiles. Ranging in shapes and sizes from the long-necked Elasmosaurines to the dolphin-like Polycotylids. However, another clade of Plesiosaurs, the short-necked Pliosaurs were among the most iconic. And the most famous of all Pliosaurs would be Liopleurodon dominating the Jurassic Seas of Europe from 166-155,000,000 years.

In 1873, during the early days of Paleontology, Henri Émile Sauvage described fossils sent to him found near the Franco-Belgian border. The fossils were three teeth around 2.75 inches long. He coined the species, "Liopleurodon ferox", the genus name meaning "Smooth-Sided Tooth" and species name meaning "savage". Fossils of this creature have since been found in France and England, as well as referable material found in Germany. Another species described four years prior has been assigned to the genus, known as Liopleurodon pachydeirus, previously assigned to the related Pliosaurus.

Liopleurodon had the standard Pliosaur body plan. Four flippers, a muscular neck, a bulky body, and a massive head equipped with sharp and robust teeth. Recent studies have posited that all Plesiosaurs may have had a tail fluke. Other marine reptiles such as Mosasaurs and Ichthyosaurs had tail flukes. However, its believed Plesiosaurs did not use them for active propulsion like Mosasaurs or Ichthyosaurs given their tails were short and unable to flex horizontally. Perhaps just using them to help reduce drag in the water. Studies of well-preserved Plesiosaur tails have shown evidence of attachment points for a fluke. However, without a mummified/well-preserved fossil, its structure is completely speculative.
In terms of how this animal swam, most modern paleontologists think they sort of flew through the water by alternating up and downstrokes of their flippers. More recent studies theorized that they could have changed how they propelled through the water by utilizing all four of their flippers. However, without studying an actual animal, paleontologists will never truly know how these animals swam in life.

At this time in the Jurassic Period, most of Europe resembled a tropical archipelago similar to the Bahamas. With shallow seas cutting through what would today be the European mainland.
It would have been one of the apex predators in the ecosystem. Hunting smaller Pliosaurs and Plesiosaurs, as well as the Ichthyosaurs and sharks in the region.

In 1999, the Emmy Award-Winning Documentary Series Walking With Dinosaurs premiered. The series made Liopleurodon famous the world over, showing it to be the largest of all Jurassic ocean predators. However, it was drastically oversized with the narrator stating that it was 80ft long and weighed 150 tons. The paleontological community accepts that Liopleurodon in reality would have reached sizes of around 16-21ft long. With fragmentary remains suggesting a maximum of around 33ft. Not even close to the wildly oversized 80ft.
So, how did Tim Haines and his filmmakers arrive at this massive size? Fragmentary remains from the Oxford Clay were cited. Paleontologists speculated these were vertebral fragments from a massive Pliosaur. Estimated at being around 65ft long if it was a Pliosaur. The remains were assigned to Liopleurodon and it was assumed that a 65ft individual could have gotten even larger, so the filmmakers bumped it up to 80ft based on their speculation and more importantly, for drama/spectacle. However, it's now believed these fragments belonged not to Liopleurodon or even Pliosaur, but to a Sauropod dinosaur.
Furthermore, the figure of 150 tons was based on an extrapolated figure from similarly sized whales. However, modern baleen whales get their massive bulk from the blubber beneath their skin. While there is evidence that marine reptiles like Ichthyosaurs had convergently evolved blubber for insulation, no evidence of blubber has been found in Plesiosaurs. In reality, modern estimates have placed Liopleurodon around 1-3.5 tons.

Nonetheless, its iconic appearance in Walking With Dinosaurs made it a household name for kids growing up who were fascinated by dinosaurs and other extinct animals. However, while it still lives on in the minds of countless paleoartists, children, and paleontologists, Liopleurodon itself could not exist forever. Liopleurodon vanished around 155,000,000 years ago, the only remains left were the fossils of this awesome predator.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Well, here's my first Pliosaur and it's the most iconic of them all Liopleurodon. I also included a little snack for it to munch on, being Hybodus, I just decided the pose I put it in of it trying to grab something needed prey so I put it in.
To sound a bit dramatic in describing the scene:

It's mid-day off the coast of a Jurassic island. A lone Hybodus ventures up from the reef, its sensitive nose picking up scents from its surroundings while its lateral line picks up vibrations in the water. Suddenly the Jurassic Shark jolts downward as it picks up something big closing fast, but it's too late. A large 30ft Liopleurodon bears down on it. Its powerful flippers propelling it towards its quarry. Its jaw opens exposing its spike-like teeth and prepares to bite down on the primitive shark.

Okay, dramatic description over, onto a rant about its WWD appearance.

I think the appearance in WWD as inaccurate as it was still makes it the most memorable of all animals in WWD. When I first saw the scene, I thought that it was easily the greatest subversion of our expectations when it takes out the Eustreptospondylus (a lot better than other subversive shows, I'm looking at YOU Game of Thrones).
The way the 100-year old male is officially introduced by Kenneth Branagh when it kills the Opthalmosaurus mother is extremely memorable and still gives me chills seeing the massive jaws clamp down on the mother and her tail falls to the ocean floor.
Finally, how the filmmakers show how the Kaijupleurodon meets his demise by the very animals he preyed upon at the start of the episode. In short, it may have been an oversized kaiju but they at least went to the length to make its behaviors believable, not comically cartoony or anthropomorphizing the big male. All of its behaviors are well within reason for a creature of its size, and the death of the male shows that even the powerful titans of the Jurassic Seas are not invincible to the forces of nature.

Okay, rant over, onto the model itself!!!

In terms of changes I made: I added a fluke, made its neck bulkier, and cleaned up some more shrink-wrapped elements on the skull. I will add the lattermost point is very minor and not visible from this angle. There really isn't much to fix as the skull shape from WWD is fairly accurate to the real animal. As usual with most marine reptiles, no this won't be in Past Meets Present. Enjoy this unique pose with the Hybodus because for now, this is all you're going to get in terms of prehistoric marine life.

Original model by DinosaurManZT2
Liopleurodon (HENDRIX) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom