Sea Rex 3D: Journey to a Prehistoric World Page #2

95% of the species?

But that's enormous!

Nothing much must have remained

after that!

You're right, my dear.

And most of the world's

great predators have disappeared.

But life persists.

And in the seas

many fish and molluscs remain.

What about the marine reptiles?

Their reign begins now.

Three different groups, one after

the other, will rule the world's oceans.

First the lchthyosaurs,

that use their tails to swim.

- Like a fish?

- Much like a fish.

And then the Plesiosaurs,

that use their four paddle-like limbs

to fly through the water.

And next, the Mosasaurs,

that use an undulating movement

similar to... to a snake.

And these animals ruled the seas

for 1 80 million years,

throughout all three

Mesozoic periods,

Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

From the early

Triassic period onwards,

Ichthyosaurs are

the kings of the seas.

During this time, above the water,

all the continents on Earth

are joined together

in a single mass of land,

a supercontinent called Pangea.

Off to the Pangean coast!

- Switzerland?

- Yes.

At this time,

most of Europe is under water,

a shallow and warm sea.

In the middle Triassic, it's hot

and dry on land with little to eat.

In the sea, life flourishes again.

Several reptile species have returned

to the marine environment,

thriving on

the plentiful food supply.

(ROARlNG)

The Tanystropheus

hold a world record.

In proportion to their bodies, they

have the longest necks ever recorded.

With its flat teeth, this Placodont

mostly eats seashells and molluscs.

- Aren't those turtles?

- Not at all.

But they, too,

have developed a tough armour

to keep them relatively safe from

the great predators of the Triassic,

like... the Nothosaur.

Over 1 3 feet long.

Very dangerous,

and an excellent swimmer.

But it has no chance of catching up

with a Mixosaurus.

- (JULlE) lt looks like a dolphin.

- Except it's a reptile.

Like marine mammals today, it, too,

must come to the surface to breathe.

It belongs to the large group

of lchthyosaurs,

which will rule the seas

for some 1 50 million years!

(JULIE) That one doesn't seem

quite big enough to rule anything.

There are also

some very large Ichthyosaurs,

some measuring up to 75 feet long

and weighing 50 tons!

Like the Shonisaurus,

the biggest of them all.

Wow!

Like all lchthyosaurs,

it lives in groups

and mainly eats

molluscs and small fish.

(JULIE) They look like

dolphins and whales!

That's right. They're even born

in a similar manner.

What do you mean?

Well, let's hear from an expert,

the palaeontologist Ryosuke Motani.

He has just finished studying

some very fine specimens

from a famous fossil site in Germany.

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