Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Imagine a macropredator the size of a blue whale. The biggest predator was likely a macropredatory icthyosaur! Ichthyotitan severnensis and the Aust Colossus were candidates for predators bigger than a blue whale or close to it. Prehistoric ocean predators existed on a different scale than modern oceans. Ichthyotitan is known from the Lilstock Monster and Blue Anchor specimens, and were likely bigger than most Otodus megalodon. The world's biggest predators weren't fully grown, either! The Aust Colossus very likely would have been bigger than a blue whale when at adult size, and based on morphological comparisons with other relatives could have been the biggest predator ever. In 2018, a team of scientists published an analysis of enormous jaw bones from the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom. These jaw bones were discovered across the UK: the Lilstock Monster specimen was found by Paul de la Salle and is now one of the specimens assigned to the new genus Ichthyotitan severnensis. The Ichthyotitan holotype is another more complete surangular that gives us more clues about the enormous animal’s life and body size. The Aust Cliff material, found decades earlier, had been mistaken for dinosaur limb bones due to its enormous size. The 2018 paper argued that these huge fragments both belonged to shastasaurid ichthyosaurs, which were the largest marine reptiles known. Two new studies expand our knowledge of these animals, confirming the ichthyosaur diagnosis and discovering that none of these whale-sized creatures were fully grown.
Ichthyotitan Description: 00:00
The Specimens: 00:51
Ichthyotitan Size: 02:18
Aust Colossus Size: 04:33
Histology Analysis: 05:05
Ecology Analysis: 06:48
The Hypothetical Maxima: 07:30
Thumbnail art by Rudolf Hima
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Imagine a macropredator the size of a blue whale. The biggest predator was likely a macropredatory icthyosaur! Ichthyotitan severnensis and the Aust Colossus were candidates for predators bigger than a blue whale or close to it. Prehistoric ocean predators existed on a different scale than modern oceans. Ichthyotitan is known from the Lilstock Monster and Blue Anchor specimens, and were likely bigger than most Otodus megalodon. The world's biggest predators weren't fully grown, either! The Aust Colossus very likely would have been bigger than a blue whale when at adult size, and based on morphological comparisons with other relatives could have been the biggest predator ever. In 2018, a team of scientists published an analysis of enormous jaw bones from the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom. These jaw bones were discovered across the UK: the Lilstock Monster specimen was found by Paul de la Salle and is now one of the specimens assigned to the new genus Ichthyotitan severnensis. The Ichthyotitan holotype is another more complete surangular that gives us more clues about the enormous animal’s life and body size. The Aust Cliff material, found decades earlier, had been mistaken for dinosaur limb bones due to its enormous size. The 2018 paper argued that these huge fragments both belonged to shastasaurid ichthyosaurs, which were the largest marine reptiles known. Two new studies expand our knowledge of these animals, confirming the ichthyosaur diagnosis and discovering that none of these whale-sized creatures were fully grown.
Ichthyotitan Description: 00:00
The Specimens: 00:51
Ichthyotitan Size: 02:18
Aust Colossus Size: 04:33
Histology Analysis: 05:05
Ecology Analysis: 06:48
The Hypothetical Maxima: 07:30
Thumbnail art by Rudolf Hima
Join the Discord server: discord.gg/UMYqfwcmAN
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCmkkmzfWWf4HzrO8SGO3gjw/join
