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Praise for ICE AGE GIANTS OF THE SOUTH, Volume 1 in the Southern Fossil
Discoveries series, from the National Teachers Association:
“The narrative provides questions and answers along with focused information . . .
the photos are great. . . . I recommend Ice Age Giants of the South for middle school students. . . .
Its focus on fossils and the stories they tell should be very interesting to these students.” and
Johnston

Cover design by Carol Tornatore

Front cover art by Karen Carr

Pineapple Press, Inc. • Sarasota, Florida Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston
 Southern FOS-
discoveries vol.2

Giant
Predators
of the
Ancient
Seas

Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

Pineapple Press, Inc. • Sarasota, Florida

Copyright © 2001 by Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Inquiries should be addressed to:

Pineapple Press, Inc.

P.O. Box 3889
Sarasota, Florida 34230

www.pineapplepress.com

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Cutchins, Judy.
Giant predators of the ancient seas / Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston.— 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Southern fossil discoveries)
Includes index.
ISBN 1-56164-237-1 (alk. paper)
1. Marine animals, Fossil—Juvenile literature. [1. Marine animals, Fossil. 2. Prehistoric animals.
3. Paleontology.] I. Johnston, Ginny. II. Title.

QE851 .C88 2001

566’.09162—dc21
2001021328

First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Design by Carol Tornatore Creative Design

Printed in the United States of America

 Acknowledgments
We wish to give very special acknowledgment to James P. Lamb, Ph.D.,
Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina
State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and to Mark Uhen, Ph.D.,
Curator of Paleontology and Zoology at Cranbrook Institute of Science
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Their expertise and generosity have been
invaluable in our work on Giant Predators of the Ancient Seas.
We gratefully acknowledge Mike Everhart, Oceans of Kansas Paleontology,
for sharing his knowledge and his excellent photographs. We also thank
David Dockery, Ph.D., and Michael Bograd, Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, Jackson, Mississippi; Eleanor Daly, Ph.D., Curator of
Paleontology, Mississippi Museum of Natural History, Jackson, Mississippi;
Ed Hooks, Ph.D., Collections Manager, Alabama Museum of Natural History,
Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Susan Henson, Collections Manager, McWane Center,
Birmingham, Alabama; Neal Larson, Black Hills Institute of Geological
Research, Hill City, South Dakota; Al Sanders, Ph.D., Curator of Natural
Sciences, Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina; James Westgate,
Ph.D., Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas; James Knight, Ph.D., Curator
of Paleontology, South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina;
and Judith A. Schiebout, Ph.D., LSU Museum of Natural History, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. We greatly appreciate the cooperation and assistance of
these professionals.
 Art and Photo Credits
The authors gratefully acknowledge the following people and organizations
for the use of their art and photographs.

front cover: painting by Karen Carr/mural commissioned by the Sam

Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
pp. 7, 8–9, 10, 15 (top), 17 (top), 19, 20, 23 (bottom), 24–25, 26
(top), 30–31, 32 (bottom), 33, 35 (top), 36, 38, 39, 40, 43
(middle), 48, 51 (bottom), 52–53, 54, 55, 60:
Judy Cutchins
p. 11 (top): Erika H. Simons/Florida Museum of Natural History
p. 11 (bottom): Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
pp. 12–13, 46, 50 (top): Tony Madden/Fernbank Science Center
p. 14: painting by Dan Varner
p. 15: Alabama Museum of Natural History
p. 16: Paul Goulet/Little Ray’s Reptile Adventure
pp. 17, 22 (fossil specimen courtesy of Tad Rust), 29 (bottom), 49:
James
P. Lamb
p. 21 (top): Ed Gerkin/c Black Hills Institute of Geological Research
p. 21 (bottom): Neal Larson/c Black Hills Institute of Geological Research
p. 23 (top): Discovery 2000, Inc., d/b/a McWane Center
pp. 26 (bottom), 27, 28, 34–35: Mike Everhart/Oceans of Kansas
Paleontology
p. 29 (top): Mark Widhalm/The Field Museum #GEO 86290C
p. 34 (top): Michael Triebold/Triebold Paleontology
p. 37: David Schwimmer/Columbus State University
p. 41 (top): Jameson Weston/Utah’s Hogle Zoo
pp. 41 (bottom), 42, 43 (top and bottom): James Westgate, Lamar State
University
pp. 44–45: Frank Fortune/Georgia Southern University
p. 47: Levette Bagwell/Atlanta Journal Constitution
p. 50 (bottom): drawing by Kenneth Carpenter/Denver Museum of Nature
and Science
p. 51 (top): Mozelle Funderburk
pp. 56–57: Joanne Barham/South Carolina State Museum
pp. 58–59: painting by George L. Schelling
 Contents
1. Fossils from Ancient Seas 6

2. Monster Sea Lizards 12

3. Strange Plesiosaurs 24

4. Awesome Fish 32

5. Real Sea Serpents 38

6. First Toothed Whales 44

7. Great Tooth Sharks 52

8. Giant Sea Predators Today 58

Glossary 61

Pronunciation Key 62

Index 63
o ne

Fossils
from Ancient
Seas
H ow do we know what kinds of giant
predators swam in prehistoric seas? People
find fossils of these extinct animals, and
were washed in from the shore were buried
by the sediment. Some hard parts, such
as teeth and bones, became fossils. Over
scientists use these clues to identify creatures time, sediment layers grew hundreds or
that lived in the oceans long ago. even thousands of feet thick. The weight
The sea bottom provided ideal conditions of top layers packed deeper layers into a
for fossil formation. Countless microscopic sedimentary rock called limestone.
and larger shelled animals lived in the sea.
When they died, their empty shells settled
on the seafloor, building up over time as
layers of sediment. Mud, clay, and sand Forming
were deposited in the sea by rivers. Fossils
W hen th
Larger animals that died in the water or e skeleto
ns and s
animals hells of
are burie
d for ma
under th ny years
e right c
ondition
minerals s, certain
graduall
y replac
materia e the
l in the b
ones, tee
T his is o th, and s
ne way f hells.
ossils ar
e forme
d.

6
Change has always been part
of the earth’s history. Mountains
have been uplifted and climates
have warmed and cooled. Sea
level has been high at times
and low at others. Over millions
of years, huge numbers of
species of plants and animals
have lived and died out.

7
8
 Parts of the southeastern United States
that were covered with seawater in pre-
historic times are today known as the
southern Coastal Plain. This part of North
America is now dry, sandy land. But it was
underwater for millions of years when the
earth’s sea level was higher than it is
today. When sea level is high, more land is
underwater. When sea level falls, there is
more dry land. Scientists search for fossils
in the Coastal Plain to learn what kinds of
animals inhabited the prehistoric sea.

After sea creatures die, their bodies

settle to the bottom and are buried
by sediment.