Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Page #2

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are now juveniles...

but they're still

in the safety of the shallows...

and unaware of the huge predators

in the sea beyond.

For now, they are mastering the art

of catching their favorite prey-

herring-like fish called Enchodus.

Then one day, everything

changes for the dollies.

Perhaps it's a change of seasons...

that causes the Enchodus

to head out to sea on a migration.

The dollies must follow

their main source of food.

And that means the young female

and her brother...

must now set out

on the journey of their lives...

trailing their mother

from the shallows...

out into the Western Interior Sea.

It's about the size

of the Mediterranean...

and only a few hundred feet deep...

but somewhere ahead

are enormous predators.

We know because...

where those predators once swam...

the layered earth holds their remains...

as if a vast graveyard.

Exposed to wind and rain...

it gradually reveals what's within.

A remarkable discovery was made

by Charles Sternberg and his sons...

pioneering fossil collectors

in the American Midwest.

I covered it so nobody else

would notice and disturb it.

Ah. Yeah.

Skull looks like some kind of tylosaur.

Big one.

Levi, be sure to look over there.

[Narrator]

It was a creature like this...

the dollies might encounter

in deeper water...

waters filled with dangers.

The Tusoteuthis was a massive hunter...

like the giant squid of today...

up to 30 feet long

and abundant in the inland sea.

It was too big to be attacked

by the Platecarpus...

who settles for smaller prey.

Platecarpus itself was fierce...

but not in the same league

as its larger relative...

the creature the Sternbergs had found.

Few ocean predators ever would compare

with the beast they were uncovering.

Think I've got some tail vertebrae

over here.

Could be lower limb bones.

Part of a paddle.

Skull here.

Paddle there.

Tail vertebra over there.

This fella could be giant-sized.

[Narrator]

It was a giant with no enemy...

a great reptile called Tylosaurus...

one of the largest and most ferocious

creatures of any age.

A fossil of a closely related beast

tells us more.

[Speaking Hebrew]

Its eyes were as big as grapefruits.

Cone-shaped teeth filled its jaws...

and the roof of its mouth

perfect for seizing prey.

The tylosaurs were out there...

but there were other predators

more easily spotted.

As fish go, Xiphactinus was gigantic...

up to 17 feet long.

More than twice the size

of the little female dolly...

it was a hunter

that could kill quickly...

and this day one did.

## [Radio:
Country]

We know what happened from a fossil

excavated in the badlands of Kansas...

by Charles Sternberg's son George.

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