The Plesiosaurs were large water reptiles, like a cross between a giant turtle, lizard
and an eel.
This sea creature lived in the Mesozoic era and died 66 million years ago as a result
of the KT Extinction.
But what if they had survived?
Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I am your host Rebecca Felgate
and today we’re talking about dinosaurs as we ask What If The Plesiosaurs Didn't Go
Extinct?
Before we dive into this video, we just want to ask you what your favorite dinosaur is?
Mine has to be the Brachiosaurus or the Dilophosaurus because of the fan face!
Yes!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.
Okay, the Plesiosaurs!
So, these aquatic dinosaurs were pretty much the kings of the sea.
There were a few variants of the Plesiosaur; the Plesiosaurus being just one.
The Plesiosaurus itself weighed around 1000lb and were twice the size of a modern horse
and weighed about twice as much as a chunky pig.
The biggest of the Plesiosaurs was Predator X, also known as the Pliosaurus Funkei.
This sea beast was 12 meters long with a bite four times more powerful than the T REX.
These water-based killers had tear-shaped bodies and paddles for limbs, allowing them
to speed through the water to hunt their prey.
These were the top predators of the sea, and because we love drama, this is the Plesiosaur
we are going to focus on for this video!
Firstly, let's start with this little notion.
If the Plesiosaurs and Predator X had never gone extinct – getting in the water would
be terrifying.
Terrifying.
No more swimming about in shallow water, no more I’m on a boat lolz… if Predator X
was around, the water would be a death trap!
As would the beach – it is thought by some scientists that the Plesiosaurs laid their
eggs on land.
Would Plesiosaur eggs be hunted by humans and made into a cultural delicacy in some
countries like Balut?
Or would we try and destroy the eggs in order to cull the species population?
I guess good luck retrieving the eggs…I wouldn’t want to be the one that had to
dodge teeth with the ability to slice me in half with one bite.
Little fact for you – Fossil records suggest Predator X had one of the biggest bite forces
of all the animals to ever exist.
Maybe leave those unhatched eggs alone...
Other scientists refute the idea of eggs altogether, though, saying the Plesiosaurs gave birth
in a manner similar to whales.
With the fossil evidence we have, we aren’t quite sure, but the distinction is important
– if the plesiosaurs weren’t tied to the land…they could have traveled further.
Fossils of the smaller Plesiosaurs have been found around England and France, but the hugeeeee
Predator X was thought to swim between Europe and the North Pole, with a huge fossil of
the killer found in Norway.
If it were still alive 66 million years after they were last known to swim the oceans, who
knows where they could have ended up migrating to.
Perhaps they’d be having a lovely old time goring on flesh around Iceland, Greenland,
and the Eastern coast of the United States and Canada.
Maybe they would have got further, who knows.
Hi, let’s get back to how scary the water would be, shall we?
Good.
With a new savage king of the see, the poor old shark isn’t looking so fearsome.
Movie franchises would focus on Predator X instead of our fishy friends…instead of
jaws, perhaps Stephen Spielberg would have made Plaus…Plessy the killer….Predator
X strikes again?!
Whatever the title, that boat scene would have been waaaaaaay scarier with a Plesiosaur….who,
at over double the size of even the biggest Great White, would definitely have required
a bigger boat.
Quints death would have seemed waaaay gorier!
Of course, the main meals for Plesiosaurs weren’t humans, as humans didn’t exist
yet.
Smaller Plesiosaurs ate fish, squid and other sea creatures, but Predator X ate other Plesiosaurs
and…well.. whatever they could get their jaws on really, which was pretty much everything
as they were the biggest marine animal to ever live, so far as we know.
The Plesiosaurs are extinct, so it is hard to know what impact their survival would have
had on the waters – the ecology of which could be very very different today – some
species that survived the KT Extinction may not have gone on to evolve into the animals
we know today if Predator X was around to keep their numbers low.
Also, if the Plesiosaurs did go extinct, what else could have survived?
Would we still have dinosaurs on land?
If so…perhaps human evolution would have been under threat.
Ultimately, the survival of one species has the potential to create a butterfly effect
so vast that it is hard to know where we could have ended up today!
One final thing before we tie up this question…we are asking what if the Plesiosaurs didn’t
go extinct, but what if they didn’t?
The good old plesiosaur is frequently brought up in conversations about supposed lake monsters.
Champ of Lake Champlain.
Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan in Canada and of course, the Scottish Loch Ness Monster, good
old Nessie…who could well be a Plessy….osaur.
While Cryptozoologists continue to search for evidence, most mainstream scientists are
skeptical of these claims, saying the lakes are too small to support breeding populations.
However as the legends live on, who can say for sure?
So guys, what do you think would happen if the Plesiosaurs had not gone extinct?
Let me know in the comments section down below?
Also, let me know your favorite dinosaur!
While you are down there, hit that thumbs up button and of course stay subscribed for
more big answers.
I am your host Rebecca Felgate, I’ll catch you in the next video, but until then…stay
curious, stay alert and never ever stop questioning.