saurus

A tangent this week. After carefully selecting a piece of a fossilized mosasaur tooth I desperately needed in my life, I’ve chosen to devote a post to three, in my opinion, under-appreciated prehistoric reptilians.

/deinonychus

I will forever be bitter that Michael Crichton, or his editors, chose to shift the name of this noble, intelligent hunter to ‘velociraptor’ for his novel. Ultimately the change stuck through the entire Jurassic Park franchise and remains to spread its falsehood in the Jurassic World continuations. In actuality velociraptor was a similar but much smaller predator (between the size of deinonychus and compsognathus). Dino-nerd quibbles aside, deinonychus at 6 to 8 feet tall has always been a favorite of mine for her speed and efficacy in predation.

/sarcosuchus

Sarcosuchus Imperator would be a great band name. It also happens to be among my favorite crocodilians. Around 35′ feet long it stalked the swamps, rivers, and lakes of prehistory. While not the largest of the Crocs in its relative era, Sarc has my favorite Latin name and a fascinating long narrow snout that reminds me of a Tengu in reptilian form.

/mosasaur

The photo at the top of this post features one half of a fossilized mosasaur tooth. While popularized now in Jurassic World, mosasaur has always been a favorite of mine. The gargantuan ocean bound reptile of dream and nightmare. Many near complete skeletons have been found along the Jurassic Coast of the UK.

Hold on tight all, see you next week.