30-Day Retrosaur Art Challenge - Day #14 - Long-Necked Sea Tyrant
Anguitherium crassiventrus – “Fat-Bellied Snake Beast”
(An-Gwee-Theer-Ee-Um) (Krass- Ee-Vent-Russ)
Transitional Tyrants were a group of tyrants that started to adapt to an aquatic lifestyle with some of them developing subterranean abilities, and some going more amphibious. Next to branch off were the Long-Necked Sea Tyrants. Unlike the Long-Necked Goliaths, these animals are carnivorous fish-eaters that trap their dangerous prey between the long needle-like teeth before swallowing them whole. Anguitherium is an example of this group that represents one of the largest and most terrifying so far discovered. This was not because you wouldn’t want to swim with it, which you wouldn’t, but because they were perfectly capable of coming out onto land and tearing into land animals, before delving back into the ocean depths. With their long necks and railroad-spike-like teeth, Anguitherium would find Flying Tyrants or early Birds flying over the water and strike with a viper-like intensity that would catch these flying creatures by surprise. Anguitherium has vestigial spurs on their front flippers that they use to help haul themselves onto land to chase after beach-dwelling transitional tyrants and goliaths but also more importantly to lay their eggs in large scrapes they dig in the beach dunes. After they lay their eggs, of which there are hundreds, they leave them to fend for themselves as most Retrosaurs do, and whoever survives, survives; Survival of the fittest!
(Based off Plesiosaurs, and outdated reconstructions of beach-walking Plesiosaurs)
(Let us know if you want these guys on shirts, mugs, stickers, and more!)