Ancient Sea Reptiles: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and More

Dive into prehistoric waters and discover extraordinary sea monsters who reigned the ocean for 150 million years Ancient Sea Reptiles: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and More examines the anatomy, behavior, diversity, lifestyle, and evolutionary rise of creatures who conquered the seas for 150 million years during the Mesozoic era. Expert paleontologist Darren Naish puts these fearsome and mighty creatures under the microscope and transports readers to wild and primeval waters. In this gorgeously illustrated book, amazing creatures leap off the page, including: Mosasaurs, known as "T-Rexes of the deep" Cretaceous sea snakes Long-necked plesiosaurs Crocodile-like thalattosuchians, the earliest sea turtles Ancient Sea Reptiles features fossil photography and artistic reconstructions of ancient creatures, from evolutionary anomalies to apex predators who survived extinction events, with chapters that include: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Evolution Chapter 3: Anatomy Chapter 4: The lesser-known groups: mesosaurs, Triassicsauropterygians, Cretaceous sea snakes and more Chapter 5: Shark-shaped reptiles: the ichthyosaurs and their kin Chapter 6: Long necks, big mouths: the plesiosaurs Chapter 7: Sea crocs: the thalattosuchians Chapter 8: Mosasaurs: the great sea lizards Chapter 9: Sea Turtles More than 80 percent of the world's vast ocean is unmapped and unobserved, prompting the imagination to run wild on what might lurk in its depths. But Ancient Sea Reptiles proves that what stirs the imagination even more are the spectacular prehistoric creatures that have already been discovered. The book is a feast for the eyes and the scientific mind.