Liopleurodon Description
The Liopleurodon was a large, short-necked marine reptile that lived during the Late Jurassic period. It was an apex predator with a massive skull, long jaws lined with sharp teeth, and four powerful flippers for propulsion. As a carnivore, it used its strong sense of smell and powerful jaws to hunt other marine life.
Could You Outrun a Liopleurodon?
While Liopleurodon could not actually run or walk, it was a fast swimmer because it could reach speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. That is certainly faster than any person ever. This made Liopleurodon a great ambush predator especially due to it being equipped with an immense bite force of 33,000 newtons. Liopleurodon was one of the most prominent apex predators of its time.
Are You Bigger Than a Liopleurodon?
Liopleurodon was a giant creature being around 35 feet in length and weighing around 2 tons. Liopleurodon was once thought to be much larger but that was due to a large miscalculation in a skull-to-body length ratio. Still, this deep sea predator was a deadly, yet majestic, force to be reckoned with.
Fun Facts
- Liopleurodon means smooth-sided teeth
- It had to surface to breath air like modern day whales
- It had a highly developed sense of smell
- Liopleurodon was a pliosaur, a relative of the plesiosaurs but with a much shorter neck
- Liopleurodon was not the largest pliosaur of its time, being considerably smaller than creatures like Kronosaurus
Dino-mite Equations!
Question #1: What is the combined speed of 9 Liopleurodons?
Answer #1
225 mph!
Question #2: What is a third of a Liopleurodon’s bite force?
Answer #2
11,000 newtons!
VelociLogic 