tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post8259013321841662999..comments2024-03-28T02:45:03.204-07:00Comments on Antediluvian Salad: Plesiosaur Machinations XI: Imitation Crab Meat Conveyor Belt and the Filter Feeding PlesiosaurDuane Nashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14467779935085970909noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-66131469799995182652018-01-06T22:17:02.405-08:002018-01-06T22:17:02.405-08:00How big would these Campanian/Maastrichtian aristo...How big would these Campanian/Maastrichtian aristonectones have been? What are the specific fossils?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05984980135788575718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-1145447093447228642018-01-06T22:16:29.883-08:002018-01-06T22:16:29.883-08:00How big would these Campanian/Maastrichtian aristo...How big would these Campanian/Maastrichtian aristonectones have been? What are the specific fossils?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05984980135788575718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-49132479467692561362015-07-31T14:59:43.065-07:002015-07-31T14:59:43.065-07:00Sure it is here: http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/sites/...Sure it is here: http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/sites/default/files/omateus/files/araujo_et_al_2015_paedomorphism-libre.pdf<br /><br />LeeB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-53743220094446266662015-07-31T09:15:56.596-07:002015-07-31T09:15:56.596-07:00Yes Mosasaurs were doing all sorts of neat things ...Yes Mosasaurs were doing all sorts of neat things by then. I see a lot of similarity in their diversification as I do with Ichthyosaurs in the Triassic/early Jurassic - with the exception that mosasaurs never went toothless and, as you mentioned, filter/trap feeding.<br /><br />I think what is predominantly occurring is a lineage diminishing and going extinct and mosasaurs filling in that vacant spot. Perhaps, as you mentioned, the young being plesiomorphically generalist carnivores allowed them to quickly monopolize new ecological niches and exclude others from evolving into specialized forms. I will concede that mosasaurs ability to rapidly bolt down large prey items gave them a distinct advantage in competitive food eating competitions :') Whether or not elasmosaurs would have eventually succumbed to the mosasaur hordes we will never know. Personally I think the generalized elasmosaur adaptation afforded them a lot of plasticity in where they wanted to forage (abyssal depths to estuaries/large rivers) and sharp, heterodont teeth combined with gastric mill may have allowed them to exploit tough prey items and fleshy ones too.<br /><br />Any reference/publication on that Angolan Aristonectine available by chance?Duane Nashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14467779935085970909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-5503674658079259552015-07-31T04:04:03.997-07:002015-07-31T04:04:03.997-07:00An Aristonectine has also been described from Ango...An Aristonectine has also been described from Angola this year, although it was too incomplete to give a name to.<br /><br />Mosasaurs were evolving rapidly into lots of different niches by the Maastrichtian and probably outcompeting lots of other animals but one of the niches they don't seem to have occupied is a filter feeder; they seem to have liked chewing things up with their teeth too much.<br />I suspect even the juvenile mosasaurs were providing competition and predation for the young of other marine reptiles; they would be especially troublesome for other creatures if they had a poisonous bite like other Toxicoferans.<br /><br />Even specialised species of genera like Globidens and Carinodens may have been more plesiomorphically general carnivores when young and only developed the specialised dentitions and diets as they aged.<br /><br />LeeB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-29086416677412498802015-07-31T01:26:05.990-07:002015-07-31T01:26:05.990-07:00Nice comment LeeB. If I am correct that gives us a...Nice comment LeeB. If I am correct that gives us aristonectines in South America, Antarctica, New Zealand. Sure would be neat to find out they made it to the northern hemisphere and I am not surprised that we might be seeing some truly big ones discovered. I think polycotylids would very quickly re-evolve into macro-pliosaurs if it wasn't for those pesky mosasaurs!!Duane Nashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14467779935085970909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161161431451849208.post-56606872662435610902015-07-30T23:47:34.468-07:002015-07-30T23:47:34.468-07:00Interestingly enough there were aristonectines in ...Interestingly enough there were aristonectines in the New Zealand region and over the years bits and pieces of very large plesiosaurs have been recorded from here.<br />They are of either Campanian or Maastrichtian age (Haumurian stage) and thus too late to be Pliosaurs.<br />This leaves either Elasmosaurids or Polycotylids and the latter are rare this late in the Cretaceous although not unknown.<br />So maybe a very large filter feeding Aristonectine occurred here even in the Cretaceous.<br /><br />Although of course the alternative of a giant Polycotylid re-evolving the Pliosaur ecological niche would be interesting too.<br /><br />LeeB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com