An illustration of a pliosaur, with its crushing bite force, on attack. -Atlantic Productions
Scientists digging in the arctic island regions of Norway have found the enormous remains of a new member in a family of ancient ocean reptiles, called pliosaurs, that lived during the reign of the dinosaurs. This sea hunter was at least 50 feet long and weighed 45 tons. The skull alone measures 10 feet long as well as the front two flippers. The average length of previously studied pliosaurs is about 16-20 feet. It is estimated that Predator X had a bite 2-3 times as powerful as T-Rex and 100 times more powerful than any animal alive today, at 33,000 pounds. As the top predator in it’s habitat, Predator X probably fed on fish, squid and other marine reptiles, such as the long necked plesiosaur and the dolphin like ichthyosaurs.
Excavating the Skull of Predator X - Kelly Nobay
The story of the discovery and excavation of Predator X will be shown in a documentary on the History Channel on March 29th at 8pm.
