Agitated Sea

Australia during the Early Cretaceous, records from the Toolebuc Formation. Above and below the sea, life remains busy.

In the scene, the unrivaled predator of the environment, a 10 m long Kronosaurus queenlandicus, chases the 7 m long-necked plesiosaurs, Eromangasaurus australis. The colossal shadow beneath the water catches the attention of a Thapunngaka shawi, a pterosaur flying above the area. The Kronosaurus will appreciate the nutrients more than ever in its life, as it is generating its first offspring.

A little far away from the plesiosaurs, more animals are hunting. A group of Platypterygius australis, 6 m long ichthyosaurs, launches a well-coordinated attack on a school of Pachyrhizodus grawi, an approx. 45 centimeters long species. Based on research on another ichthyosaur, Stenopterygius, it is speculated here that Platypterygius could adjust its coloration to be lighter or darker due to its branched pigments. Thus, the Platypterygius close to the surface are darker and more protected from the solar radiation than the one individual located at greater depths, which is lighter.

As the marine reptiles corner their prey, a more direct and brutal action of another hunter arrives unexpectedly: a 3 m long Australopachycormus hurleyi, equipped with a pointed snout, launches itself at high speed into the school, creating a hole as the Pachyrhizodus dodge the attack. All the rush of the hunt attracts more predators, causing other Australopachycormus and some Cooyoo australis, 2.5-3 m fishes, to swim towards the school in an attempt to capture prey. In the sky, the pterosaurs Mythunga camara also seize the opportunity and try to snatch any Pachyrhizodus near the surface. This pterosaur measures almost 5 m in wingspan.

Away from these hunts, the protostegid turtle Notochelone costata, around 1.5 m long, swims near the surface. In the lower left corner is the fish Richmondichthys sweeti, a filter feeder exceeding 1.6 m. Two types of ammonites are present: some Myloceras sp. by the left corner (above the Richmondichthys) and a group of Beudanticeras flindersi by the right, in the front (although recent revisions suggest that specimens from the Toolebuc Formation may not belong to this genus). What appear to be scattered dots on the seabed viewed from afar are, actually, giant 1 m shells of the bivalve Inoceramus sutherlandi.

On the shore, some terrestrial animals pass by: a herd of Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, 8 m long ornithopods, and a pair of Kunbarrasaurus ieversi, small ankylosaurs around 2.5 m. There is also a flock of the enantiornithine birds Nanantius eos.

New artwork for Tales from the Phanerozoic, a project by João Macêdo. Check out the Early Cretaceous chapter here, with the backstory of the scene and detailed information about its environment and creatures: https://sites.google.com/view/talesfromthephanerozoic/the-mesozoic/first-time-mother