kids encyclopedia robot

Liopleurodon facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Liopleurodon
Temporal range: Upper Jurassic
Liopleurodon ferox Tubingen 2.JPG
Liopleurodon ferox
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Class:
Sauropsida
Order:
Plesiosauria
Family:
Pliosauridae
Genus:
Liopleurodon

Sauvage, 1873

Liopleurodon was a large species of Pliosaur. It was an apex predator in the Upper Jurassic seas, around 160–155 million years ago. It grew up to 6.39 metres (21 feet) long. It was a relative of Pliosaurus and Kronosaurus. It preyed on other marine animals such as Ophthalmosaurus.

Some fossil remains excavated from the Kimmeridge Clay formation in England indicate a much larger animal, perhaps up to 15 metres (49 ft) long. However, these have not been put in the genus Liopleurodon.

Liopleurodon's nose allowed it to smell underwater. It could smell prey from some distance away. Despite needing to breath air, Liopleurodon spent its entire life at sea and was unable to leave the water. Consequently, it would have given birth to its young alive and may have visited shallower water to breed.

species

  • L. ferox (type)
  • L. pachydeirus
  • L. rossicus
  • L. macromerus

Images for kids

  • Liopleurodon ferox skull reconstruction

    Reconstruction of the skull of L. ferox

  • Liopleurodon ferox teeth

    Teeth

  • A descriptive catalogue of the marine reptiles of the Oxford clay. Based on the Leeds Collection in the British Museum (Natural History), London (1910) (20864103542)

    Skull lithograph of L. ferox

  • Liopleurodon after Tarlo

    Restoration

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Liopleurodon para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Liopleurodon Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.