Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Pliosaurs were the Jurassic’s most powerful predators, and continued to dominate as apex predators into the Early Cretaceous. Their four-flipper build gave them agility and their enormous bone-crushing skulls defined the iconic pliosaur look. The biggest skull of the Mesozoic didn’t belong to T. rex, or Giganotosaurus, or even Spinosaurus. As impressive as those megatheropods’ chompers were, they were dwarfed by the ocean-going giants like Sachicasaurus, Kronosaurus, and Pliosaurus, which had skulls up to two and a half meters long. We’re going to cover the body size, phylogeny, and physiology of the Pliosauridae, going through taxon by taxon and discussing the factors that made them such a successful and iconic clade of gigantic marine carnivores.
Thumbnail art by Literally Miguel
00:00: Pliosaurs Were The Jurassic’s Most Powerful Predators
00:00: Thalassiodracon hawkinsii
00:00: Hauffiosaurus longirostris/tomistomimus/zanoni
00:00: Attenborosaurus conybeari
00:00: Anguanax zignoi
00:00: Marmornectes candrewi
00:00: Eardasaurus
00:00: Gallardosaurus
00:00: Ischyrodon
00:00: Peloneustes philarchus
00:00: “Pliosaurus” andrewsi
00:00: Pliosaurus kevani/rossicus/funkei
00:00: Simolestes vorax
00:00: Lorrainosaurus keileni
00:00: Liopleurodon ferox
00:00: Megalneusaurus
00:00: Makhaira rossica
00:00: Acostasaurus
00:00: Sachicasaurus vitae
00:00: Luskhan itilensis
00:00: Stenorhynchosaurus munozi
00:00: Kronosaurus
00:00: Boyacasaurus
00:00: Monquirasaurus
00:00: Brachauchenius
00:00: Megacephalosaurus
Pliosaurs were the Jurassic’s most powerful predators, and continued to dominate as apex predators into the Early Cretaceous. Their four-flipper build gave them agility and their enormous bone-crushing skulls defined the iconic pliosaur look. The biggest skull of the Mesozoic didn’t belong to T. rex, or Giganotosaurus, or even Spinosaurus. As impressive as those megatheropods’ chompers were, they were dwarfed by the ocean-going giants like Sachicasaurus, Kronosaurus, and Pliosaurus, which had skulls up to two and a half meters long. We’re going to cover the body size, phylogeny, and physiology of the Pliosauridae, going through taxon by taxon and discussing the factors that made them such a successful and iconic clade of gigantic marine carnivores.
Thumbnail art by Literally Miguel
00:00: Pliosaurs Were The Jurassic’s Most Powerful Predators
00:00: Thalassiodracon hawkinsii
00:00: Hauffiosaurus longirostris/tomistomimus/zanoni
00:00: Attenborosaurus conybeari
00:00: Anguanax zignoi
00:00: Marmornectes candrewi
00:00: Eardasaurus
00:00: Gallardosaurus
00:00: Ischyrodon
00:00: Peloneustes philarchus
00:00: “Pliosaurus” andrewsi
00:00: Pliosaurus kevani/rossicus/funkei
00:00: Simolestes vorax
00:00: Lorrainosaurus keileni
00:00: Liopleurodon ferox
00:00: Megalneusaurus
00:00: Makhaira rossica
00:00: Acostasaurus
00:00: Sachicasaurus vitae
00:00: Luskhan itilensis
00:00: Stenorhynchosaurus munozi
00:00: Kronosaurus
00:00: Boyacasaurus
00:00: Monquirasaurus
00:00: Brachauchenius
00:00: Megacephalosaurus
