The Largest Reptile that Ever Lived

[@owa8609]

Biggest mammal, reptile, and fish are all marine. Look out world's biggest bird will eventually be a gigantic penguin haha.

[@Crembaw]

I believe that’s already true!

[@seanmatthewking]

@@Crembaw It’s definitely not. Ostriches and Emus are bigger.

[@borederlands5387]

The future is wild be like:

[@ivanzonder5228]

it's not certain that the largest Reptiles are Marine because the remains of Aust Colossus and Lilstock Monster are both in scant amounts . but it's possible they were actually larger than the likes of Argentinosaurus , Patagotitan etc.

[@ivanzonder5228]

but yes it's possible they were actually larger than the likes of Argentinosaurus , Patagotitan etc.

[@nelsonmeier7861]

These videos are somehow really relaxing.

[@mariodemartino2946]

It’s his voice

[@stegotyranno4206]

True

[@bradys.7967]

British accent.

[@RethinkRetro1]

Probably why I watch at night

[@danielholtzman2582]

It's the voice, and the interesting yet completely unrelated to daily life quality of the subject matter.

[@aureliamillner592]

How about a Video on Symbiotic (or even Parasitic) Relationships and when the first (we currently know of) evolved? And Please do one on Figs and Fig-Wasps (Agaonidae), their co-evolution is really fascinating if you ask me! Edit: Typo

[@lofty7316]

ooo i like this! a crinoid/coral symbiotic pair has just been found for the first time since the paleozoic, that could warrant a mention

[@wildae.]

yes please

[@dihead216th]

pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee3eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese

[@keithharper32]

People like to point out how the most derived icthyosaurs resemble modern dolphins, but I got another parallel for you. The last known Mosasaurs bore a strong resemblance to early ichtyosaurs like cymbospondylis, even having traces of tail flukes. So it seems osasaurs were evolving in the same direction as ichtyosaurs 150my earlier. But, they were cut off by the KT event.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Time is a flat circle

[@peterrabbit2965]

Interesting idea, but shape of the head is very different. This would affect hunting strategy, and therefore, morphology. Plus, Mosasaurs are way cooler.

[@priyazu4000]

@@peterrabbit2965 how they were way cooler?

[@casualmoon]

@@priyazu4000 because they were giant monitor lizards

[@rafexrafexowski4754]

@@priyazu4000 Because people think predator = cool. That's why a lot of people still believe Gastornis was a carnivore similar to a generic terror bird, just living earlier, when there are already very cool land crocodiles as predators from this time and it being a giant herbivore is much more unique and scientifically accurate.

[@lukegaming86]

I’m in my senior year of a biology degree and your videos really help consolidate what I learned in class and connect concepts

[@MoarCheeseBirb]

dolphins like "can I borrow your homework? I'll change it up a bit so the teacher doesn't notice"

[@pedroivantaveraferreira3037]

"Sure! But be aware I just copied this from the shark guy"

[@jenniferofholliston5426]

@@pedroivantaveraferreira3037 o

[@chriscoven1610]

@@pedroivantaveraferreira3037 underrated comment thread

[@stegotyranno4206]

@@pedroivantaveraferreira3037 “I’m know, they copied from them Arthrodires, remember ?”

[@ShwetankYa]

But they added an amazing new feature, echo location, which no fish or reptiles had

[@douglasgorde5823]

It makes me think, what sounds did they make, what did they look like? Did they live in social groups or alone? This is exciting

[@COLT6940]

Unorganized pact maybe but pack hunting exclusively happen in mammal.

[@capmidnite]

I wonder how they tasted.

[@malnutritionboy]

@@COLT6940 pack hunting is not exclusive to mammals

[@COLT6940]

@Lopriux their intelligent is comparable to rabbit so don’t expect wolf and lion level.

[@COLT6940]

@@malnutritionboy find me the better ones oh wait you can’t. Croc, komondo dragaon, piranha, school of sharks etc behavior don’t consider pact hunting.

[@dr.polaris6423]

Fantastic video! Really appreciate you covering this topic.

[@stegotyranno4206]

Funny thing is that today i was about to do a short watch on your channel, hoping to find a new episode. I got distracted and forgot about watching and just went to school. During my break I see you uploaded. Great channel my friend

[@AllosaurusJP3]

Yes! More itchyosaur videos! Most underrated aquatic reptile!

[@gavinwiebe6613]

id say sea turtles or sea snakes are the most underrated because since theyre alive today people dont realize how cool they are. i love ichthyosaurs too but they get a lot of love so i wouldnt consider them underrated tbh

[@AllosaurusJP3]

@@gavinwiebe6613 I agree with seasnakes for sure!!! Definitely underrated creatures!

[@whereskentuckybruce8245]

@@AllosaurusJP3 I wonder if there were prehistoric sea snakes?

[@petfauna1445]

@@whereskentuckybruce8245 There were giant prehistoric sea snakes!!

[@petfauna1445]

@@whereskentuckybruce8245 Real sea serpents

[@jessicap4998]

The Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller has a Shonisaurus sikanniensis on display. They basically pulled it out of the ground and opened it up on the floor in the museum. Standing next to it and seeing just how big the vertebrae are, and the skull, you realize just how massive the animal was.

[@h31212]

6:51 the fact that this is not an animation is absolutely nuts

[@Rosarian_baron]

please never stop what youre doing on here youre such an amazing content creatorand your channel is just the best to vibe and learn properly all the infos that even the docus channels cant do right

[@allthe1]

This channel is in my top 3, for sure.

[@pansepot1490]

So true. While I was watching I was thinking of other channels like PBS eons, which have a big budget and a team of people working at it yet their videos are hardly better.

[@dynamosaurusimperious2718]

Moth Light Media sure know how to make everyday a very extraordinary one,and I love it. Also I wish y'all a good day,and this giant reptile is quite awesome.

[@joshr9812]

Honestly I watch these videos so many times because your voice is so smoothing I can nap to it in the background 😂 Then I can't remember what the video was about and have to watch it again 😂

[@celebalert5616]

I am currently constructing a yet larger one that will surpass all previous records. Progress slow due to low supply of lizard meat.

[@Comadycoyote01]

COVID really has stunted public access to animal meat used for the purpose of meat related art

[@celebalert5616]

@@Comadycoyote01 One of many hidden effects of the pandemic!

[@Her_Viscera]

Keep us updated

[@MarkVrem]

Fish have like a flakier type of flesh. Amphibians/reptiles taste and texture like chickens. Would fish make better birds than birds would make fish.. Then why are flying dinosaurs extinct.. SO ANNOYING!!!.. CONTEXTUAL FAILURE.. EORROR MESSAAGE. DESTROY DESTRYOOY

[@cameronspence4977]

​@@celebalert5616 gigantic Covid garage lizard meat abomination fo today

[@shanerooney7288]

The largest reptile to ever live. His name was Steve. He died young due to health complications.

[@seanmatthewking]

Reptiles keep growing as they age i think, so it’s unlikely that one who died young was the biggest ever. Sorry Steve.

[@shanerooney7288]

@@seanmatthewking #NotAllReptiles Even if such a growth pattern was the case for Steve's species, that doesn't prevent Steve from out-growing his peers at a young age. Reptilian growth rate to age ratio produces a sigmoidal graph, not an exponential one. In fact, even a liniar relationship between Steves age and size will quickly see him out-growing the rest of his species.

[@g.vulgar7049]

This sounds like a song The Mountain Goats would write.

[@IrishCarney]

@@g.vulgar7049 Had more of a haiku vibe for me

[@impendio]

More than dinosaurs and the pleistocene megafauna, I’d give anything to see any of the big marine reptiles on the flesh, I love them so much and it hurts me that they are all gone forever…

[@lewisirwin5363]

They look so goofy, don't they? It's the trilobites I really miss.

[@emmettbattle5728]

@@lewisirwin5363 i keep isopods but itll never hit the same 😔✊

[@whythelongface64]

@@emmettbattle5728 Im making an isopod enclosure too, for something to meditate on, sitting on my table. It's awesome how simple it is to keep them.

[@impendio]

@@lewisirwin5363 I’d also kill to see the burgess shale fauna in the flesh, like the huge filter feeding anomalocarids or just what the hell was opabinia’s deal or hallucigenia’s… and maybe just skip a couple million years and see what even _was the tully monster_

[@tupzc24]

@@lewisirwin5363 look at a horseshoe crab, close enough to your trilobite.. Lol

[@ThrowerTimothy]

Please bring back the chilled out music in your videos, MothLight - so therapeutic - great content as always 👍

[@sparkster4000]

You should do a video on the evolution of Mantids! Love the content btw. Your breakdown of evolutionary eons with a focus towards what actually caused certain evolutionary changes (as opposed to just describing the changes themselves) is really nice. Hard to find videos on this type of stuff that are succinct yet thorough. Your relaxing voice makes it better. I hope you’re proud of yourself! You’re making good content that people enjoy, about something you seem genuinely interested in. Keep up the good work man 👍

[@clemenstieg7440]

Reptiles could have grown larger in warm seas because they are poikilothermic wich means they need way less food than a warm blooded whale. That gives them more possibilitys. I know there are more variables in this topic but its definatly a thing to consider.

[@bkjeong4302]

Note that most rorquals don’t actually eat krill all that much; they eat small fish more often (albeit by filter-feeding). Then again, blue whales are the largest rorquals and they feed entirely on krill, so it may be that rorquals that eat fish cannot get as big as the krill-specialized blue whale.

[@Jeuro38]

My guess is that it's more the reverse, you need some amount of agility and speed to catch small fish, while krill will just let itself get trapped into a large enough mouth 🤔

[@TheoEvian]

Also one big size limitation disappeared with certain very large shark species that probably specialised on eating whales became extinct.

[@jessehunter362]

@@TheoEvian Actually, current theory is that those sharks disappeared because the whales got too big

[@TheoEvian]

@@jessehunter362 I thought it was the other way around, that the whales couldn't get as large as they are now because of megalodons.

[@jessehunter362]

@@TheoEvianWhales got larger than megalodon before the antarctic cooling, and megalodon didn’t usually try to eat those whales. The giant whales outcompeted all the small tropical whales and their iron-rich droppings, along with runoff from glaciers, made krill biomass much more concentrated around the artic and antarctic, leaving megalodon with no reliable food source and the remaining whales a primarily near-polar and sub-polar distribution. The primary thing acting as a stopgap to the size of an animal is how much food it can intake, and the dense krill swarms around the polar regions, fueled by the cold, oxygenated waters, and the great bioproductivity fueled by the iron-rich waste of the whales, are what allows modern baleen whales to reach the sizes they do, when most filter-feeders are relatively small, not predatory activity. (When faced with predatory activity, animals tend to become larger, to better fend off attack.)

[@canadianpirateanders9951]

Love this channel. To anyone working on the channel, thanks for the effort! This channel is one of my very favorites , you all do great work! Nature is so darn badasz

[@2canines]

Cold-blooded animals can reach a larger body size compared to warm-blooded ones given the same environmental constraints. (Example: Warm/cold-blooded biomass comparison on small islands) Due to the lower metabolism, cold-blooded animals don't need to feed as often and can remain inactive for long spans of time with almost zero caloric use. Edit: That could be another plausible explanation for how a non filter feeder could get to that size.

[@theunholyadventurer2376]

Marine reptiles were most likely warm blooded

[@andrejonathan7607]

sometimes i forget that ichtyosaurus are actually reptiles, not fish. and everytime i shocked myself when relearning the fact.

[@raccoonman6251]

I clicked on this faster than I thought was humanly possible

[@whereskentuckybruce8245]

You’re evolving beyond Homo sapiens, expect a video on your species soon

[@raccoonman6251]

@@whereskentuckybruce8245 my time will come...

[@satyr1349]

Fascinating, great work again!

[@wor575]

Marine arthropods want to be crab. Marine tetrapods want to be fish. I do wonder if the mosasaurs and marine crocodilomorphs were given more time would they have evolved a dorsal fin too, considering they already developed vertical flukes and largely mirror basal ichthyosaurs

[@noammkw3770]

i like your commentary the most out of all of these kind of channels, keep it up

[@TheFoshaMan]

Wake up baby! New biggest ichthyosaur just dropped! And it comes with a Jaw bone! Meet Ichthyotitan!!!!

[@Andrews_Sandy]

He did mention it in the video at 5:24 mark, although when this was made the discovery is not named and fully described yet

[@nogoodgod4915]

Excited to watch the new video!

[@Meklovin90]

Yes finally a new video, keep up the good work! Already watched most of your videos twice or even thrice!

[@iwasadeum]

I've always been fascinated by animals that are so successful in a biome where they're seemingly out of place in (whales and marine reptiles - air breathers in a world of water breathers), even frequently becoming apex predators. I also forget how insanely massive this animal was!

[@rexyjp1237]

Fun fact: crocodiles birds and dinosaurs belong to a group of animals called archosaurs

[@prasanttwo281]

And Pterosaurs and Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs and pretty much every big reptile in that period

[@Dragrath1]

@@prasanttwo281 pterosaurs were definitely archosaurs but sauropterygians(including plesiosaurs) and ichthyosaurs are much more contentious in their origins In particular they probably weren't archosauriformes. Looking it up most studies suggest sauropterygians likely were part of the Pantestudines the lineage of diapsid reptiles more closely related to turtles than other reptiles but the placement of this larger branch of the reptile family tree is also contentious. Ichthyosaurs are most likely basal lepidosauromorphs

[@prasanttwo281]

@@Dragrath1 Ahh, my bad, should've looked it up first... I wonder what other incorrect information my brain has held on to from my pre-history obsessed childhood Also, that's very interesting! I'll definitely look it up. Thank you!

[@hyperion3145]

Also, apparently there is a serious debate about whether or not birds are reptiles since when the dinosaurs stop and the birds start isn't exactly clear.

[@Dragrath1]

@@hyperion3145 To be fair the term Reptile has kind of ceased being a valid classification under modern cladistic methods as it becomes functionally equivalent to Sauropsida. Crocodilians are even a bit problematic in regards to the term since they display secondary reptilian characteristics such a sealing off the fourth chamber of their heart and redeveloping a sprawling gait to adapt to a low energy aquatic edge ambush predator niche

[@kylecollier7569]

Humbling how in the Triassic Period some marine reptiles were the size of some of the largest whales today, but in the Jurassic the largest marine reptiles were no bigger than Orcas or Humpbacks in terms of length. At least in the Cretaceous some marine reptiles could be up to 50-60 feet like Mosasaurus Hoffmani.

[@heilmadon]

Some of it may be due to competition and massive predators. the blue whale probably came through thanks to the megaldon and that whale killer whale I forget his name became extinct.

[@kylecollier7569]

@@heilmadon That whale would be Liviatan.

[@chheinrich8486]

No kiding, the largest jurassic ocean dweller was a fish, victory for the fishes

[@CamelOfAll]

Honestly, your one of my favorite youtube channels 🙂

[@lh317]

the background music in these vids is so soothing

[@prasanth2601]

Your voice is soo relaxing.

[@diremiralis1998]

Imagine being big enough where your spine segments are used as diner plates

[@poppedweasel]

Think of all the tasty meats we've missed out on, only arriving a million years ago or so. I'm up for cloning mammoth, just to see what it tastes like.

[@thatyoudliketoknow1628]

Channel is great, thx for the work!

[@hyunsung32]

1:32 I mean I knew Shonisaurus were large but bigger than Humpbacks?! Jeeeez. Honestly would have loved to see them

[@CriticalVids]

Love this content bro!

[@samuelvine]

Just saw your video on the co-evolution of humans and dogs. Saw a comment there that piqued my curiosity.... Could you do a video on the co-evolution of humans and cats? It'd be fascinating to see what changes we each evolved over the millennia to be more suited to each other.

[@GregoryJohnson-l1g]

I think there isn't a video about that because cats haven't really been domesticated as much as dogs, the oldest known evidence of dog domestication is almost 5000 years older than the oldest evidence of cat domestication. Another reason is that cats were used more as pest control in the ancient world, whereas dogs, which are endurance hunters that hunt in packs, had the same hunting style as ancient humans, so they were a more natural fit and coevolved more closely. As a cat person it pains me to say it, but dogs are really humans best friends.

[@eriklaroi8]

Just in time for the subnautica release, i’m in a leviathan phase

[@classygentlemangaming8400]

Subnautica came out like 5 years ago

[@thewhovianhippo7103]

Noice have you watched a video about the leviathan whale

[@eriklaroi8]

Nintendo release of both games was today, I’ve played it before but there’s just something unique about nautica on the Switch, ya know?

[@toptextbottomtext3062]

*There is another* From Aust cliff also there's another jaw fragment coming from a giant ichthyosaur. It's proportions are 30% bigger than the other giant's or more. That results in a length of 32.5 meters or more! Maybe we do have a blue whale-sized marine reptile after all...

[@stegotyranno4206]

Eat on that cetaceans!

[@Dragrath1]

Yeah I was expecting him to cover that it is highly speculative sadly given how fragmentary the remains are (the animal for instance could have been shorter depending on how its vertebral column is arranged as Ichthyosaurs had a wide variety of body plans) but it was definitely a massive animal though without more complete fossils we will likely never know to what degree and how much

[@prasanth2601]

#toptext.. Considering thale fact that only a single piece of bone is discovered we can't judge weather it can grew to the size if whales. Ofc there is a good chance but there are some examples in past where animals which are discovered at first only by a single bone had a wrong size estimates. So we cant judge. Moreover the biggest blue whale can possibly tip the scales upto 250 tons.

[@toptextbottomtext3062]

@@prasanth2601 To me this does not seem like one of those bones that have been overestimated. Remember the 30% is based on the smallest possible bone in the jaw it could be. Unless for some reason it had a massively disproportionate head this estimate should stand. I'm very aware of this problem though it has happened with about a billion prehistoric animals. I'm not claiming it's bigger than the blue whale just around the same size. If you assume it had proportions most similar to S. popularis it might weigh 300 tons or more so it could be bigger than the largest blue whales but it could be smaller. Of course we also have to remember that just statistically speaking it's unlikely we've found or will ever find the largest individual unlike with blue whales where we've killed most of the big ones ourselves.

[@prasanth2601]

@@toptextbottomtext3062 As Dean Lomax team used scaling to measure the size of aust collosus the probability of this ictyo to be as heavy as 300 ton is less. And yes it's 30% bigger than the 21 meter shastasaurus( ofc shastasaurus is not used to measure aust size).Animal size vary in individuals let alone sub species. That makes me wonder what if a bigger shonisaurus fossil will found and makes aust collosus weight even more than 350+ tons. Also 300 ton mark will achieve only if that jaw is pre maxila or dentary. If it's not a dentary then aust will weigh upto 250-275 tons I think which is roughly the max theoretical weight a blue can achieve. For comparison at first giga skull is compared with Rex and as the skull of giga is bigger/longer than rex previously paleontologists concluded giga is bigger than rex which is wrong. I think same will happen here in future.Moreover the physical structure of ictyo is slender rather than uniform like in whales. Sucking small fish/crusteceans with its dolphin like beak doesn't make them that big in my opinion. At last I definitely agree there are many many extinct animals which are bigger than blue Whale. But I don't think Aust will be one of those many many animals.

[@TheYgds]

I'm glad you approached this subject the way you have. I'm a bit of a stickler for exactness and level of certainty when people start talking about the "largest animal to ever exist". I hate it when people fail to say "largest animal KNOWN to have existed". While ichthyosaurs may never have gotten as large as the blue whale, it isn't outside the realm of possibility and it is frustrating when others talking about this seem to be so certain that the blue whale "must" be the upper limit. It is probably the upper limit for a mammal in today's ecosystems, but to suppose this limit applies equally to all other taxa that have ever existed is arrogant and fool hardy. It is like these other public biologists fail to remember that the fossil record is highly incomplete. As a result any and all declarative statements about the extremes found in nature need a strict qualifier, clearly stating that something is the "insert extreme measurable quality here" ever KNOWN to exist. No certainty, it is gross and negligent on the side of any scientist to do otherwise. If the language wouldn't pass peer review it ought never find its way into documentaries or other public communications. Well done my friend.

[@bunkayke2554]

The dislike is a newly evolved lizard who is still struggling to use her handsies. Give her time

[@TheAwillz]

There's 4 of them now...they're spreading :o

[@stegotyranno4206]

@@TheAwillz I don’t even understand why people dislike.

[@Ahahashir]

"Ugh, I can't belive he ACTUALLY covered Shonosaurus. Such a disgusting monster"

[@lingus1382]

Or alternatively a disgruntled new largest reptile to ever live who is very upset moth light media hasn’t heard of it yet

[@jimmyohara2601]

Thumb/s down is in regards to your loser failed comments. Whaaa haa hmmm 😅😂👻🤪

[@MrTigerlore]

I hope to discover a giant extinct animal someday so I can name it: Fat F#

[@Rokkiteer]

You're an amazing story teller

[@mikepette4422]

I love ancient creatures but somehow I hope we never learn of a larger creature than a Blue Whale. Its just nice to think that those gentle giants are the biggest animals ever.

[@Volttikoira]

Please have this meager offering for Moth Light Media oh great algorithm gods

[@valx7586]

Whenever someone says "one of the biggest animals to ever live" I always add on "that we know of"

[@wv4776]

Kinda unnecessary considering “one of the biggest” technically could just mean anything other than literally the smallest thing to ever live

[@seanmatthewking]

@@wv4776 “One of the biggest” is arbitrary enough where that qualifier is completely unnecessary.

[@eliletts1680]

Great video! Thanks for posting! 👍

[@HuevoBendito]

Is there a source that discusses in detail the specific constraints and boons that wildlife had back during the time of the ichthyosaurs?

[@stephenleblanc4677]

I love your channel!!!

[@labrat_goyle]

Moth is the only thing keeping me sane

[@doublejazz]

My favorite channel on youtube

[@skarabyll1458]

favourite channel on youtube

[@anonimous8457]

as always youre videos are incredible interesting. i also really like how calm and qiet they are. i only have one request tho and that is to bring the old music back, i really love it! haha keep up the good work

[@ottovonbismarck9501]

As Qui-gon said: ‘There’s always a bigger Ichthyosaur’

[@madjitismailov2312]

Love your videos man keep it up!

[@wolfpackastrobiology3690]

@ 6:50 The size limit for filter feeding which you described pertains to the lunge feeding used by royquals. We haven't identified the limits for strategies such as "skim feeding" used by right whales.

[@chriscoven1610]

Another calming enjoyable video!

[@spagelsmegal]

These videos are so relaxing and interesting

[@mauriciomunoz87]

Absolute quality. Class A Chit

[@swagdaddymcpicklenips4683]

What do you call a singing dinosaur? A Tyranno-chorus Rex!

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Badum-tish!

[@76rjackson]

Can I please unread that?

[@tijanamilenkovic9442]

@@76rjackson it's a songbird

[@futuristica1710]

It’s just called a bird.

[@andrewpaige1194]

just thought i should add this on:the ichthyosaur jaw fossil you showed and mentioned to be larger than the largest known(25meters), is actually assumed, by many scientists, to have gotten larger than blue whales/the largest animal ever*(the second, actually). i believe the estimate is around 85ft for the individual that jaw bone comes from, and all animals known by fossils DEFINITELY got significantly larger than the largest known specimens. it’s literally impossible for them not to. statistically, even if we had fossils from 10,000individuals, that would still only represent something crazy, like .00000000001%(maybe even way less, that was just a guess) of every individual that ever lived, so for all animals we have fossils for(WAY under 10,000 individuals for large animals, in general), the chances of us having anywhere near the largest individuals ever, are basically nonexistent. you can say for SURE that any animal got much larger than the largest we know them to be, which i’ve always preached, and now that’s finally been pointed out by these many scientists, who going by a single individual of a species, being 85ft, confidently say it was probably the largest animal of all time, even tho blue whales get larger than 100ft, more than 15ft larger than the estimated size of this known individual. despite them saying “largest”, it would still only be 2nd largest known, because Argentinasaurus is currently the largest KNOWN animal, sized at upto 110-120ft(depending on where u look), which then means that they had to get at least close to 140 or 150ft, and maybe larger, so the ichthyosaur would still only be the 2nd largest. it’s a pretty safe bet that they didn’t get like 60ft larger than the known specimen of 85, even tho it’s just known from 1 individual. *the less individuals we have on a species, the larger it got than the largest known specimen. that means T. rex HAD to get over 50ft, spinosaurus definitely got at least close to 70ft, elasmosaurs had to get over 60ft, mosasaurus at least 70ft, etc. very cool, and although it may be very surprising to most people, it’s common sense, when u think about it. we’re all just tricked by everyone always saying how big things got, and can/could get, instead of always saying “are known to get as large as”, or “the largest so far”.

[@567secret]

I always found it odd that we call Blue Whales "the largest animal to have ever lived", they've been around for less than a million years, whereas vertebrates have been around for over 500 million years, it just seems improbable to me, that we live in the 1/500th period of that time in which the "largest animal ever" has existed, is it not possible there is yet some larger, no extinct, animal that we do not know about?

[@aldoushuxley5953]

you always have to add "that we know of". Especially if you include animals that don't fossilize well (say cephalopods etc).

[@aldoushuxley5953]

Although we also happen to live in the period with the smartest animal known, and probably other records too

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Most species don't leave fossils in places where we can find them. We will never have fossils from most species that existed. And much that we know is from ancient shallow seas that are now dry land. We can't find fossils from animals that died over deep ocean floors which have stayed ocean floors or got dismantled (re-enmantled) in subduction zones.

[@hans-joachimbierwirth4727]

It's not just the missing fossil of a contender but the whole lineage of something bigger that isn't there. As well as the food economy to support it. We know a bit about the evolutionary dynamics that produced large baleen whales, and that took much more time and links than meets the eye.

[@--Paws--]

Cymbospondylus is now my favorite sounding name.

[@SharksandDinos]

Aust Colossus: I'm coming for you Blue Whale! . Blue Whale: *Starts swimming for her money.*

[@AntoniusTyas]

I saw the video on my recommendation. I clicked it in less than a second. Because it's about prehistoric marine reptiles.

[@dogeclark2265]

Hell yeah, liked the video before it even started

[@explodingdynamite7319]

Sauropods: Are We All Jokes To You?!

[@K.Pershing]

Yes they are

[@MrSlayerOX]

I wonder if mosasaurs would have existed longer, would they have started to evolve like the ichthyosaurus?

[@draochvar9646]

It is possible but on the other hand their anatomy was a lot more like that of snakes than that of early ichtyosaurs, so it's possible they'd have evolved more like marine snakes. In addition to that, keep in mind that not all marine reptiles went down the "fish-shape" route, the Plesiosaurids for example went a completely different direction and were extremely successfull with that.

[@toxicdino8676]

@@draochvar9646 undulatory swimming has consistently been shown that it’s indeed the best adaptation for becoming aquatic, plesiosaurs outlived the ichthyosaurs by chance, they didn’t outcompete them

[@quinnbuffet3825]

The morphology of an animal absolutely makes a difference in size constraints. It's believed that the reasons land mammals never reached the colossal sizes of sauropods was because the latter had airsacs the former lacked. MLM is onto something but I don't think Shonosaurus would have done it that way per se. I'm eager to find out either way.

[@zoltanperei4789]

As a child i always called them lizard dolphins.

[@tijanamilenkovic3425]

That description is actually accurate😅

[@generaldissatisfaction5397]

Would love to see you do a video on Desmostylians.

[@Xnaut314]

Icthyosaurs are as underrated as mosasaurs are overrated. Icthyosaurs were arguably the most diverse and successful of all marine reptiles yet most of the casual dinosaur fans forget they ever existed simply because they didn't live at the same time as T. Rex and mosasaurs did. And it's only logical that the greatest land predator and sea predator existed at the same time, right? RIGHT?!

[@flioink]

Who the hell dislikes cool videos about extinct creatures?

[@googleuser3163]

Some people just want to watch the world burn, but don't have the courage or knowledge of pyrotechnics. So they do the next best thing and dislike videos for no reason.

[@poseidon8466]

It’s been my theory for a long time that there are bots that go around disliking every video on KZbin (probably above a certain amount of views)

[@JohnyG29]

I don't think there is any feasible way of finding out, so that's a bit of a pointless question.

[@TheSeverian]

Creationists.

[@flioink]

@@TheSeverian Ah, yes, forgot those people actually really exist.

[@matthiasfloren2610]

Just imagine that thing breaching

[@MidoriNatsume]

Thank you for this video. The last famous Ictiosaur video on KZbin was a wanker fest on some guy who studied them a lot and barely anything about the species.

[@lassebirkhenriksen]

Love your videos!!!!

[@joelcostello2386]

I was literally thinking about ichthyosaurs last night and how weird they are 😂

[@SalvatoreEscoti]

Perfect example of convergent evolution?

[@akrulla]

This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

[@gethype1908]

Can you do more reptile videos I think reptiles are the coolest creatures ever

[@JuicyJam]

DRINKING GAME!!! Take a sip of your drink when there is: - a time lineage - a genetic tree - a new animal's illustration - a size comparison chart Take a shot when: - the narrator says "however"

[@permabaked8208]

I love your channel brotha! May all of your desires come true.

[@chrisball3778]

There's an absolutely colossal jawbone in the Oxford Natural History Museum that just doesn't get enough love. It's from a Pliosaur- another group of Mesozoic marine reptiles, which are thought to have been active predators. When I say 'huge' I'm not exaggerating- the Jawbone is something like 2.8 metres long. There's a cast of a T-rex skull near it, and the T-rex skull looks like a child's toy by comparison. Everything I've read about the jaw says that the species it represents (Pliosaurus Macromeras) was probably 15-20 metres long and a rival to the Sperm Whale as the biggest predator to ever hunt large prey. For some bizarre reason it hardly ever gets brought up in discussions of the biggest extinct marine reptiles. There's all kinds of arguments on Wikipedia about the size of a similar creature found in Norway nicknamed 'Predator X', which was featured in some dinosaur documentaries and inspired a monster from the Jurassic World movies, but it was probably smaller than P. Macromeras anyway. It's especially weird, because P. Macromeras has been known about for over 150 years. You'd really have thought that it'd have gained a fan base at some point in the last century and a half- that jawbone is just truly horrifying.

[@gojilla3820]

I love this dude

[@lost2weeks245]

You look like you are in a phase

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

I've never seen many of those examples of body shape. Exciting!

[@stanley9334]

Ophthalmosaurus climbs evolves to live in the oceans* First fish to leave the ocean and evolve into land dwellers: "am I a joke to you?"

[@xenmafia2041]

Wake up babe, new Moth Light video just dropped

[@carlsmith4568]

Nothing fascinates me more than land animals evolving to reenter the ocean, and then proceeding to dominate the ecosystem. Whales are incredible creatures, far more impressive than humans anatomically.

[@beigematt4927]

Thank you KZbin recommended

[@Mauricio_Castaño]

good info

[@kasperboutkan1757]

Just stumbled upon your account. I'm goning to watch all of your video's hahaha

[@atikurrahman-pn7ei]

Do more insects videos please

[@jorgerangel2390]

Love it, thanks!