Predator X: The Fiercest Dinosaur Yet

Posted by Alex in Animal, Pictures, Science & Tech on March 24, 2009 at 2:23 pm



Image: Atlantic Productions

If you think that Tyrannosaurus rex was the fiercest dinosaur ever, think again: a team of paleontologists from the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo and other universities found a 50-foot marine reptile dubbed "Predator X" that made T. rex looked like a puppy:

The 147-million-year old monster was 15 metres long, had 30-centimetre-long teeth and had a bite pressure 10 times greater than any animal alive today, said Jørn Hurum, who led the team that uncovered the fossil.

A new species of pliosaur, Predator X was probably an apex predator at the top of the food chain, similar to the modern-day great white shark, said Hurum, a palaeontologist at Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Link | University of Oslo Press Release

Previously on Neatorama: Strangest Dinosaurus Names


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20 comments to "Predator X: The Fiercest Dinosaur Yet"

  1. lannaxe96
    March 24th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    I heard about this, being the obsessive National Geograhic fan that I am. So bizarre!

  2. R2K
    March 24th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    This is not, I repeat NOT a dinosaur! All dinosaurs lived on land. The aquatic cousins (and pterosaurs also) were related reptiles, but NOT dinosaurs. They were Mosasaurs, pleisiosaurs, etc...

    Also note that Trex was 40 feet long. Hardly a puppy, just 20% shorter. :) Lets not get carried away, this is on par with Killer whales and other large predators alive today (the sperm whale also). All pretty scary.

  3. warren
    March 24th, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    And just when I thought that it was safe to go back into the water!!!

  4. artbot
    March 24th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    Who comes up with thee names? "Predator X"? You're joking, right.

    Still, it would be no match for a Liopleurodon, which looks very similar but was close to 75 feet (!) long. It was the largest known predator ever, land or sea.

    http://www.ivanstalio.com/immagini/Illustrazioni/Prehistory/liopleurod on%20ferox.jpg

    It's so nice having a curious 3 year old to help me (re) learn all my dino stuff.

  5. Kalel
    March 24th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

    Time for 'Jurassic Park IV' to start filming...

  6. Dave
    March 24th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

    That looks a lot like one of the monsters in Phantom Menace... Does George Lucas know about this?

  7. LisaL
    March 24th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    Well.... so long as they don't try to bring THAT one back...

  8. Jigore
    March 24th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    How could they be in the next Jurassic park? Are there some underwater jurassic mosquito that I didnt heard about?

  9. Johnny Cat
    March 24th, 2009 at 6:47 pm

    @R2K:

    Paging Dr. Gellar, Dr Ross Gellar.

  10. chickmagnetstuff
    March 24th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    that's one fearsome creature, well i'm just imagining how we could live in that time.

  11. SenorMysterioso
    March 24th, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    Jesus had scuba gear

  12. Johnny Cat
    March 25th, 2009 at 12:00 am

    If we lived in that time, it would have been super-awesome for about ten minutes, then ...not so much. Could you imagine how hard it would be to reel in a fish? Fry up some dino-bacon without the smell attracting other carnivores? Good times.

  13. pepper
    March 25th, 2009 at 3:14 am

    i think i've sen this before in the UQ.

  14. Terry
    March 25th, 2009 at 8:47 am

    Check out the 2 min sneak peek video on the PREDATOR X special airing on the HISTORY channel March 29th at 8pm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhhWz3dmS2I

  15. PK
    March 25th, 2009 at 10:53 am

    Is that why my turtle bites me? They had an angry ancestor!!

  16. extremeinferno
    September 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    it seems to have quite a short neck compared to other plesiosaurs though....

  17. ffgg
    September 18th, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    actually, it was pliosaur, which has anything common with dinosaurs. whoever wrote the article had no idea of basic taxonomy. pterosaurs, ichtyosaurs, plesiosaurs and pliosaurs aren't dinosaurs, just prehistoric reptiles. dinosaurs were ground and oly ground. flying/swimming = not a dino. clear? ok.

  18. ffgg
    September 18th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    p.s. extreme infreno: this had shorter neck than plesiosaurs maybe because it was pliosaur, not plesiosaur. plesiosaur - long neck, small head, pliosaur - short neck, big head. clear? ok.

  19. ffgg
    September 18th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

    p.s. artbot. liopleurodon was 30 feet long, maybe only 24 feet long. p.s. it is not a joke, it was really named so, because it is too early to give it scientifical name and this name is awesome and fits the real thing right?

  20. ffgg
    September 18th, 2009 at 5:47 pm

    p.s. once was discovered another prehistoric water reptile, it was SCIENTIFICALLY named godzilla, because its head had very close shape to the american movie godzilla's head, so no need to worry about predator x ;-)
    btw. the picture of the astronaut is hella disturbing


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