Sea Dragons: Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans

The next time you're setting up a putt on the ninth hole at Smoky Hill Country Club in Hays, Kansas, pause a moment. Glance around you at the arid hills and scattered vegetation. It's difficult to comprehend that where you're standing was once under hundreds of metres of sea water. Millions of years in the past most of what is now central North America lay beneath the great Niobrara Sea [better known as the Bear Paw Sea]. Nor would you feel lonely - it was inhabited by all manner of creatures. However, some of these rivalled in size and ferocity the great land-dwelling dinosaurs of the same period. Richard Ellis has started to fill a long-standing gap in revealing how these creatures likely lived. And perhaps why they are no longer with us. Ancient marine reptiles developed to immense sizes and bizarre shapes. Ellis focusses on the four major types, all of which had one commonalty - size. After a brief lesson on nomenclature and a dismissal of the Loch Ness enigma, he goes on to introduce us to some true monsters. And gargantuan they are! The fossils found in Britain and Belgium almost two centuries ago amazed the world with their likely size. Those revealed since, many from around Hays, Kansas, achieve lengths of up to twenty metres. In line with their massive bodies, some bore impressive dental equipment, with some teeth achieving twenty centimetres in length. Seeking prey at depth, they developed eyes the size of dinner plates. These were formidable creatures, indeed.Ellis compiles fossil evidence to develop a picture of marine reptile lifestyles. They were all predators, but shape, locomotion and capacity for diving to extreme depths combined to focus on particular niches. Some must have been a glorious sight [if they didn't see you!], literally "flying" through the water like penguins. Others undulated their bodies like snakes, although, as Ellis states, no snakes were present in the seas at the time. The ichthyosaurs seem to have resembled tunas in shape and motion. The most extraordinary were the long-necked plesiosaurs who may have been bottom feeders. The range of body types and swimming styles is a reflection of the long period of their dominance. They were successful enough to have occupied the full extent of the world's oceans of the time.There are a few quirks in this book the general reader should note. These reptiles maintained an imposing set of food processors and there's a challenge in demonstrating many factors in but one illustration. As Ellis notes often, how they appeared and how they lived relies much on what they ate. But, unlike the many illustrations he provides for dramatic effect, they didn't cruise the seas mouths agape. That's for fish with gills, not air-breathing reptiles. There's some irony in the illustration [p. 212] depicting a mosasaur swimming closed-mouthed, but bending its neck in a manner no large reptile with only seven vertebrae could achieve. These are, of course, minor issu

Sea Dragons: Preators of the Prehistoric Oceans written by Richard Ellis is a wonderful book. This is the first book to present a detailed summary of the history on marie reptile paleontology. This book is well-written and vivid and delightfully illustrated."Sea Dragons" chronicles a lesser-known but equally magnificent group of megafauna... those remarkable giants that swam our oceans in the great Mesozoic era. In that era when dinosaurs dominated the earth, there were marie counterparts, every bit as big and mean.The contents of the book takes us on an overview of marie reptiles then we get into the heart of the book.The IchthyosaursThe PlesiosaursThe PlisaursThe MosasaursEach of these sections are very detailed and are wonderfully written and very understandable with illustrations to show the reader what the author is writing about. Although these marie reptiles are merely fosilized bone now, it is not difficult to flesh them out in our minds and see this tableau as a representation of what may have taken place when the world was 150 million years younger than it is now.Many of the descriptions of the creatures in this book, all of which are extinct, and all of which are known only from fossils, consist primarily of osteological terminology. Osteology is the study of bomes. What I found interesting was that even the size of the eye, so critical of the differentation of various ichthyosaur genera, relies largely on the circle of bony plates in the eye socket known as the sclerotic ring.Throughout the discussion of the marine reptiles in this book the author cites the various chronological periods making for good reference points for the reader as to how long ago these creatures existed. All in all, this is a well-compiled work and is very easy to understand. I enjoyed this book and gave it a solid 5 star rating for its ease of readability and the logical way it was written. This book would make an excellent addition to your home library as it explains about life in the Mesozoic ear.

Acclaimed marine illustrator and author Richard Ellis offers a splendid, long-overdue look on Mesozoic marine reptiles in his latest book, "Sea Dragons: predators of the prehistoric oceans". This is a slightly technical book that is aimed for those in the general public already familiar with Mesozoic vertebrate paleobiology after reading books from the likes of Robert Bakker, Gregory Paul and others. Ellis excels in incorporating the latest research on these extinct denizens of Mesozoic seas, often opting to quote directly from the published papers of the authors themselves. He begins with a splendid critique of the so-called "Loch Ness Monster", reminding us that it was a hoax perpetrated by several enthusiastic British in 1934. Then he offers a brief overview of the real monsters of the Mesozoic. In subsequent chapters he offers extensive overviews of Ichtyosaurs, Plesiosaurs, Pliosaurs, and Mosasaurs. Last, but not least, he muses on the nature of extinction, trying to explain why these elegant creatures - the marine counterparts of the nonavian dinosaurs - became extinct. My only criticism - and it is a relatively minor one - is Ellis's failure to describe phylogenetic systematics - better known to both its practitioners and critics as cladistics - which he refers to repeatedly in his technical descriptions of these creatures. Still, this is an important general overview of Mesozoic marine life which shouldn't be missed by those interested in Mesozoic vertebrate paleobiology.

There is a great deal of information regarding the life of prehistoric aquatic reptiles. Unfortunately, these amazing creatures have always been relegated to a single chapter in the majority of dinosaur-oriented books (No, these creatures were not dinosaurs, nor were they related to them). Or the most in-depth publications were steeped in the literature of scientific texts.Richard Ellis, like Robert Bakker and Carl Zimmer, has opened the door for the rest of us. Through this great book he is allowing us-- the average reader with an interest in the sciences-- to be a part of that world. His book is a total compendium that describes all the major families of these reptiles: Icthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, Pliosaurs, and of course that perennial candidate for the Loch Ness Monster, the Plesiosaurs.Thank you, Richard Ellis. I love this book!

This is the first book I know that describes the whole variety of mesozoic marine life in a, for the averagely interested as well as experts, very clear and understandable manner. In four sections Ellis reflects the latest information on nearly all species of Ichthyosaurs, Plesiosaurs, Pliosaurs and Mosasaurs combined with a lot of outstanding life reconstructions (done by Ellis himself). The text is free of speculation but full of scientific background because Ellis frequently includes the latest inputs from the leading experts. What the book also makes very enjoyable is the fact, that the book is free of difficult technical jargon but gives a lot of references for people that are looking for these technical details. The style and print quality of the book is also very good.In summary one can say confidently that this book is the best popularized book on mesozoic marine life available