Prehistoric life
Pliosaurs were a type of short-necked plesiosaur: marine reptiles built for speed compared to their long-necked cousins. One study estimated that certain Pliosaurs could swim at a little under 10 km/h. They were predators that hunted fish, cephalopod molluscs and other marine reptiles. Pliosaur skeletons have even been found with dinosaur remains in their stomachs, suggesting perhaps that they were not averse to scavenging carcasses that floated out to sea. Eventually the mosasaurs took over the Pliosaur niche in the prehistoric seas.
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Predator X
At 15 metres long and weighing about 45 tonnes, Predator X was the most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.
At 15 metres long and weighing about 45 tonnes, Predator X was the most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.
Deadly giant
Predator X is the most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.
Predator X is the most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.
Unrivalled
Shark-eating Liopleurodon bulls won't tolerate even female visitors to their patch.
Shark-eating Liopleurodon bulls won't tolerate even female visitors to their patch.
Marine mega-predator
At 150 tonnes, Liopleurodon was the Earth's largest carnivore ever.
At 150 tonnes, Liopleurodon was the Earth's largest carnivore ever.
The following habitats are found across the Pliosaurs distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Shallow seasDiscover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.
Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctionPliosauroidea is an extinct clade of marine reptiles. Pliosauroids, also commonly known as pliosaurs, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The pliosauroids were short-necked plesiosaurs with large heads and massive toothed jaws. These swimming reptiles were not dinosaurs but distant cousins of modern lizards. They originally included only members of the family Pliosauridae, of the order Plesiosauria, but several other genera and families are now also included, the number and details of which vary according to the classification used.
The distinguishing characteristics are a short neck and an elongated head, with larger hind flippers compared to the fore flippers, vice-versa of the plesiosaurs. They were carnivorous and their long and powerful jaws carried many sharp, conical teeth. Pliosaurs range from 13 to 49 feet (4 to 15 metres) and more in length. Their prey may have included fish, sharks, ichthyosaurs, dinosaurs and other plesiosaurs.
The largest known genera are Liopleurodon and Kronosaurus; other well known genera include Rhomaleosaurus, Peloneustes, and Macroplata. Fossil specimens have been found in Africa, Australia, China, Europe, North America and South America.
Many very early (from the Early Jurassic and possibly Rhaetian (Latest Triassic)) primitive pliosauroids were very like plesiosauroids in appearance and indeed used to be included in the family Plesiosauridae.
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Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Predator
Viviparous
