Paleontologists from the UK found out what life led the kings of the early Cretaceous seas marine crocodiles from the family Metriorhynchidae. It turns out that they hunted like modern killer whales: threw the victim and tore it. However, some of them didn original - sucking prey in its mouth, like a huge vacuum cleaner.

The history of marine life Mesozoic era looks much more interesting than any of their land kin. In fact, on the continents during almost the entire period at the top of the food pyramid were alone dinosaurs, also very similar to each other (to non-specialists, for example, it is difficult to distinguish the late Jurassic of Diplodocus from the Cretaceous titanosaur). But in the seas was a real battle for dominance in ecosystems.

Apparently, on the border of the Jurassic and Cretaceous most "top" floors aquatic communities took none other than... crocodiles. However, they do not like a modern representatives of this group. Great reptiles, which are now combined into a family of marine crocodiles or Metriorhynchidae, reached a six-meter length, and their skull exceed a meter and a half. They had a cylindrical body, the edges of which there were four limbs, transformed into flippers. The tail marine crocodiles ended fin, resembling that of modern sharks.

It is also interesting that the scales of marine crocodiles not contain protective bone plates. However, who these giants were afraid? After all, worse predators in the ocean. Light covers, as well as the streamlined shape of the body, transformed into flippers limbs and tail fin allow these creatures to develop a significant speed - up to 50 kilometers per hour (and possibly more). Not surprisingly, paleontologists from the University of Edinburgh (UK) compare these monsters with modern whales.

Recently researchers have thoroughly studied two skull data reptiles found in England and Germany. The age of the two fossils is 150 million years old. One of the skulls belonged to the crocodile of the genus Plesiosuchus (length 130 cm), and another his colleague from the kind of Dakosaurus (about a meter in length). These creatures lived in the oceans in those days, when the British Isles was lapping sea waves, hovered over them pterodactyls and archeopteryx, and in the distance, on the territory of the future of North America in the coastal areas grazed huge stolid diplomacy.

The scientists, studying features of the structure of the skull Plesiosuchus, figured out how hunted this bloodthirsty monster. The study's lead author Professor mark young says that, judging by the form and to the deterioration of teeth reptiles, she, like modern whale, first grabbed prey, and then tossing it in the air, torn to pieces and swallowed them. Apparently, the most common victims of this insatiable gluttons become other marine reptile - like ichthyosaurs.

While smaller Dakosaurus absorbed production more original way. He opened his mouth and just sucked his victim! This method of hunting is unknown to modern crocodiles, however, orca use it when it absorbs small prey. But the point here is this - his skull was very stretched, and at the same time was not flat, but round. So if Dakosaurus quickly opened its mouth, you created this sudden pressure drop delayed unsuspecting victim right in the stomach monster.

Yes and ration it, apparently, was somewhat different. "We believe that if Plesiosuchus specialized in other marine reptiles, Dakosaurus was a station wagon. He probably ate fish and all that close floated, including such representative collection Metriorhynchidae, as a relatively small Geosaurus, which, apparently, was, like modern Barracuda, a scavenger", says study co-author Lorna Steele from London's natural history Museum.

Research data once again confirm the hypothesis that marine crocodiles held the highest floors of ocean ecosystems. Indeed, as a rule, they hunted for other predators - and this is typical only "kings" biocenoses. It's also no accident convergent similarity killer whale - these marine mammals now, too, are at the top of the marine food chain.

"Our study also says something about the limits of optimum strategy of the underwater feeding in vertebrates, occupying the upper levels of ecosystems, for Example, the cutting force and occlusion (full interdigitation)possessed Dakosaurus, today can be found in small killer whales. In the last 10 million years this mechanism there were also numerous fossil sperm whales. In General, the days are coming, being changed, but the strategy remains the same. Apparently, it allows absolutely not related to each other animals to achieve dominance in the oceans" - said in conclusion of his work Professor young.

This is hard to disagree - indeed, the characters may change, but the winning strategy, as a rule, always one. It allowed the marine crocodiles dominate in the Mesozoic seas in the first half of the Cretaceous period. However, already 90 million years ago, their dominion was finished, bloodthirsty monsters, long bringing terror to marine life, disappeared, giving way to his place of larger and more maneuverable monsters - for example, the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. From them crocodiles not saved any rate, neither the size nor the sophisticated techniques of hunting.

In addition, these reptiles are likely multiplied as well as their modern relatives - laid eggs on coastal sand. Pobudilo them to that the fact that eggs crocodiles wear hard-shell, and viviparous species among them is not present and cannot be. It turned out that these giants had to crawl out onto dry land, clutching, and then leave it, as adapted to the sea water of crocodylia were completely helpless on the solid earth on the fins especially not run!

As a result, the offspring of these giants was absolutely defenseless in front of terrestrial predators who ate their eggs and young of the Lord of the seas. Especially this problem is exacerbated just in the middle of the Cretaceous, when there were many species of waterfowl, whose way of life was not exactly peaceful. These warm-blooded, that is more active and agile predators, most likely, have started to destroy the seed of marine crocodiles with such speed that already in the early middle Cretaceous Metriorhynchidae became very small.

And those who remained, finished off the new masters of the seas, which later, in their turn, were replaced by modern sharks and cetaceans. And now the once-formidable sovereigns Mesozoic ocean remained only giant fossilized remains of which still do not get tired to hit paleontologists and other lovers of antiquity.