Canadian scientists from McGill University have discovered where the largest marine predators that have ever existed on Earth live. This place turned out to be the Cretaceous ocean, which existed 130 million years ago where modern Colombia is located. The study was published in the journal Zoology magazine Linnean Society (ZJLS).
Experts examined the prehistoric ecosystem of the Paja formation in Colombia and found that it was teeming with marine reptiles over 10 meters long. These animals belonged to the seventh trophic level.
Trophic levels are layers or rows in a food chain that define the roles of organisms in an ecosystem with respect to their energy and nutrient sources. Simply put, they help determine who eats whom in an ecosystem. Today’s marine trophic levels are limited to six layers dominated by killer whales and great white sharks.
McGill scientists have reconstructed an ancient ecosystem network for all known fossil animals in a single geological formation in Central Columbia.
This system was created using body size, nutritional adaptations, and similarity to animals living today.
The Mesozoic era, which included the Cretaceous period, was marked by rising sea levels and a warming climate, leading to an explosion of biodiversity in marine life.
The Paja ecosystem flourished with plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and numerous invertebrates. This contributed to the emergence of one of the most complex marine food networks in history.
Scientists stated that giant sea monsters from the Cretaceous period would have hunted killer whales if they were in modern oceans.
Paleontologists before to create Bones of the oldest marine dinosaur in the southern hemisphere.
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Source: Gazeta
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