MakairodonX — Clidastes Pair on the Hunt
#clidastes#mosasaur#niobrara#mosasaurs#cretaceous_seas#cretaceousseas#niobrarachalkformation#niobrara_chalk_formation#niobrara_chalk#western_interoir_seaway#westerninteriorseaway Published: 2021-04-21 05:16:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 6995; Favourites: 55; Downloads: 0 Redirect to originalDescription
A pair of Clidastes propython (Female at the bottom, male at the top) hunt for shoals of feeder fish in the depths of what is now the Niobrara Chalk Formation. “Clidastes” means “Locked Vertebrae” in Greek, and it was one of the first mosasaurs to show full adaptations for an ocean-going lifestyle. One of the smallest and most primitive of North American mosasaurs (Only the more primitive Dallasaurus is even smaller) the 2-4 meter long C.propython can be distinguished from other mosasaurs for its elongated torso. Clidastes was also prey for larger, fiercer predators such as Cretoxyrhina, Mosasaurus, large species of Squalicorax, Tylosaurus, and Xiphactinus.
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