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
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.
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/liopleurodon%20ferox.jpg
It's so nice having a curious 3 year old to help me (re) learn all my dino stuff.
Paging Dr. Gellar, Dr Ross Gellar.
btw. the picture of the astronaut is hella disturbing
based upon my state of art computer modeling