Re: Biggest predator? (Fringe topical at best)

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Larry Dunn wrote:
> 
> Am I forgetting someone, folks, or is the Sperm Whale far and away the
> largest single predator of large lifeforms ever to live on Earth
> (excluding, rather arbitrarily, harvesters of krill)?  Or was there some
> Pliosaur that was bigger?
> 
> (I mean by "large" a product of length and weight -- excluding thereby a
> prime prey animal of old Physeter catodon, the giant squid, believed by
> some marine biologists to reach astounding lengths of up to 45m.)
> 
> Please confirm --
> Larry
> 
> "Putting all reason aside

        In 1996 pliosaur remains from the Jurassic Oxford clays in
England were found. By comparing the cervical vertebrae with those
of Kronosaurus the new pliosaur was estimated to have been 18-20 
metres long and perhaps weighing up to 50 tonnes. The findings were
presented at the 1996 meeting of the Pal.Association in England.
-- 
____________________________________________________
        Dann Pigdon
        Melbourne, Australia

        Dinosaur Reconstructions:
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/
        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
____________________________________________________