Imagine a crocodile that swam with the speed and skill of a seal. That's close to nothosaurus. This giant lizard divided its time between land and sea, hunting fish and crustaceans in the water and resting on shore, sometimes taking shelter in ancient caves. Webbed feet, flipper-like arms and legs, and a powerful tail helped nothosaurus chase down prey, and its long, interlocking teeth trapped victims in its killer jaws.
Gotta Breathe: Spending a lot of time in the water can be difficult for a creature that breathes air, but nothosaurus had little trouble. Its nostrils were on the top of its snout, like a croc's, so it could swim at the surface and breathe while saying mostly submerged.
Web Surfing: While swimming, nothosaurus was powered by a combination of its long, sweeping tail and webbed feet. Though it weighed almost a ton, the creature's "flippers" likely gave it an extra boost of speed and helped it make hairpin turns in the water while chasing slippery fish.
Lockdown[]
A fossil shows this creature's flexible neck.
Nothosaurus looked a bit like a modern crocodile, but hunted more like a seal. The beast chased fish through prehistoric seas, matching every twist and turn of its prey with its superior swimming skills. Nothosaurus had a long neck that could curve around to snatch prey, and its powerful jaws sent victims to death row. the reptile's jaws slammed shut, with the long needle-like teeth in the front stabbing through prey and locking together like the pars of a prison cell to keep struggling victims in the beast's mouth.
Lay of the Land: Nothosaurus often crawled onto land between meals, to rest and soak up some energy from the sun. Fossils of females have been found in caves near ancient, dried-up seas, which is where they laid their eggs.
Ground Up: Some nothosaurus species seemed to have been agile on land. These creatures would have come out of the sea not only to rest, but also to chase down small reptiles near the shore.
Timeline[]
Nothosaurus lived from 240 to 210 million years ago, during the Triassic Period
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The trading card has the Gold Attack Power trait.
- The nothosaurus is mentioned as a predator of the Dapedium on the small fish's knowledge card.
- The nothosaurus is featured on several Monster Mania cards:
- It is first featured in Odd Creature Out on Monster Mania 75.
- It is then featured in Timeline Tracker on Monster Mania 81.
- It is later featured in Find the Fish on Monster Mania 99.