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Tuarangisaurus Segments

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These are Prehistoric Planet segments which feature Tuarangisaurus.

Coasts[]

Segment III[]

“ Some marine animals that spend all their lives fishing out at sea must occasionally visit the coast for a very particular purpose. In the waters off the drowned continent of Zealandia, a long journey is coming to an end. These are Tuarangisaurs, a type of huge marine reptile nearly 30 feet long. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

In the third segment of Coasts, in the seas covering the sunken continent of Zealandia, a Tuarangisaurus brings her six month-old calf to one particular bay in the South Pacific, were many others of their kind gather.

“ Males also gather here to display to females. But for now, courtship is not the female's first priority. This bay has something that few others can provide. Pebbles that are particular smooth, hard, and rounded. They've been worn by the action of river water, but they're hard to find. Here, however, in the pool at the bottom of a waterfall, there are plenty of them. And the Tuarangisaurs can take their pick. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

Males raise their necks vertically above the water in a bid to impress females in the area. But first, the mother Tuarangisaurus, along with several others, congregate by a waterfall dropping off the cliff of the rocky coast, forming a rainbow where the freshwater from above meets the rocks and the sea down below. The elasmosaurs have come to collect pebbles smoothened by the river, using their snouts to dig the ideal stones from the shallow floor of the coast.

“ They then do something rather remarkable. They swallow them. They need the stones to act both as ballast and as gizzard stones, "gastroliths" which will remain in their stomachs to grind up their unchewed food. For a youngster, learning to swallow pebbles for the first time isn't easy. It takes a little practice. But it's also a chance for his mother to find a suitable mate amongst the males. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

The mother elasmosaur leads her young down to the stones at the bottom of the waterfall, intending for him to learn how to collect gastroliths. As the calf struggles to learn how to properly pick up and swallow stones, the mother leaves him to it and proceeds to find a suitable male, engaging in courtship in the open waters. By the time she has returned, her calf has finally learned how to swallow pebbles properly.

“ For the calf, at last, success. Now, he will swallow as many as he can, and, as he grows, he'll return here for more. It's time for the family to leave the coast and head back out to sea to feed. And for the young Tuarangisaur, that is an important step on the road to adulthood. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

The segment ends with the elasmosaurs departing from the bay of ideal gastroliths, setting off for the open ocean to search for food as the sun, hanging high from the sky, shines down on them.

Segment VI[]

“ Back in the shallow waters of Zealandia, large groups of Tuarangisaurs have come together. They propel themselves with all four fins, and travel almost effortlessly to find the fish shoals that gather here in summer. Occasionally, they break the surface to gulp air before continuing on their underwater flight. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

In the sixth and final segment of Coasts, in the shallow waters of Zealandia, large pods of Tuarangisaurus have come together to find the shoals of fish that gather in that area during the summer.

“ But one female is not swimming with her usual grace. She and her two year-old calf are lagging behind the rest of the group. She's moving rather laboriously, and that has not gone unnoticed. A deadly hunter. Kaikaifilu. The apparently-stricken female is a tempting target. Diving to deeper water might make her less vulnerable. For the calf, trying to distract the mosasaur is a dangerous game. But it's buying time. The mother and calf are not entirely alone... ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

One female, more sluggish than usual, lags behind the group, with only her two year-old calf to keep her company. Her laborious movement is noticed by a Kaikaifilu, which closes in on her, since she appears to be the easiest target to kill. She attempts to escape to deeper waters, while her calf charges at the mosasaur to harass and distract it.

“ These individuals may be related, and it's in all their interests to drive Kaikaifilu away. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

Just when the calf got the mosasaur's full attention, enraging it enough to really commit to pursuing the juvenile plesiosaur, at least 4 - 5 of the members of the Tuarangisaurus pod circle back and assault the mosasaur, snapping at it and forcing it to leave.

“ This is the reason for the female's apparent distress; she's pregnant. And now, after a one-and-a-half year pregnancy, a baby. Over ten feet long, nearly half the length of its mother, one of the biggest babies of all time. It needs to get to the surface to take its very first breath. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

With the hunter gone, the sluggish Tuarangisaurus, which turns out to be pregnant, can finally give birth in peace. Making herself known to her newborn calf, the mother Tuarangisaurus guides the baby to the surface, where they both take in a breath of air.

“ This young Tuarangisaur could live for eighty years. Now, supported by her family, she can take her place as a predator in one of the richest habitats on Earth, the seas around the coasts of our Prehistoric Planet. ”

― David Attenborough, Coasts

With this, the newborn calf swims alongside her mother, who rejoins the rest of the pod as they swim around, continuing to catch fish by the cliffs of a tall, rocky landmass, the last bits of Zealandia still jutting out of the sea.

Oceans[]

“ ... the very heart of the Pacific Ocean. These enormous atolls and the lagoons at their center provide the only shelter for thousands of miles. In this rare place, Tuarangisaurus, a kind of elasmosaur, finds safety. ”

― David Attenborough, Oceans

The fourth segment of Oceans takes place in the Darwin Rise, a continent-sized region in the very heart of the Pacific Ocean, known for many atolls that have formed due to millions of years of geological activity throughout the Cretaceous Period. Some of the seamounts can cover about 1,200 square kilometers (463 square miles), roughly matching the size of the city of Los Angeles in California, USA, with steep, earthquake-formed flanks redirecting currents and drawing in animals of all sizes to the oasis within, the lagoons within atolls like these serving as the only sanctuary for thousands of miles.[DN 1] In one seamount of such size, several Tuarangisaurus take refuge.

“ But outside these shallows is a different story. Each day, the elasmosaurs must venture into deeper water. Canyons in the atoll walls lead from the atolls to fresh feeding grounds. This deep water attracts not just the hungry elasmosaurs, but the predators that hunt them. The biggest in the ocean. Fifty foot-long Mosasaurus. ”

― David Attenborough, Oceans

However, every day, the elasmosaurs need to hunt, and to do so, they must leave their shallow shelter and venture into the deeper waters of the open ocean. There, where nutrients rise from the ocean floor, thousands of fish gather, ensuring a plentiful supply of food for the elasmosaurs. In turn, however, they themselves become part of the menu of the rich feeding grounds. A fifty-foot (15-meter) Mosasaurus, the biggest predator in the Late Cretaceous oceans.

Mosasaurus accelerates upwards with the C-start technique
Mosasaurus accelerates upwards with the C-start technique
“ Streamlined bodies and four powerful flippers give elasmosaurs great maneuverability. But their daily feeding forays make their movements predictable for an intelligent and patient hunter. Mosasaurus is an ambush predator. This enormous animal uses its huge tail to accelerate with astonishing speed. ”

― David Attenborough, Oceans

As the elasmosaurs continue to feed, the Mosasaurus stalks them from the ocean floor, having predicted their movements due to their daily feeding forays. In one sudden movement, the mosasaur rushes upward and almost catches an elasmosaur, which manages to escape along with the rest of its pod. Unlucky in catching prey, the Mosasaurus retreats back to the ocean floor.

Mosasaurus kills a Tuarangisaurus
Mosasaurus kills a Tuarangisaurus
“ This time, unlucky. In fact, most hunts fail. But with so many elasmosaurs living here, it’s not long before there is another opportunity. Camouflaged against the dark canyon floor, the Mosasaur can approach unseen, waiting for a young, inexperienced individual, the ideal victim. ”

― David Attenborough, Oceans

With many elasmosaurs around, it didn't take long before another opportunity presented itself. Camouflaged against the ocean floor, the Mosasaurus awaits for an easy target, and rushes at it from below, emerging out of the water with the elasmosaur in its massive jaws.

“ Mosasaurus can strike their prey with such force that the impact alone can kill. It's an attack so swift, the elasmosaur almost certainly never saw it coming. ”

― David Attenborough, Oceans

The Mosasaurus circles around the Tuarangisaurus, which was instantly killed by its assault, floating just beneath the surface of the water. With the hunt over, the mosasaur grabs its prey and drags it to the bottom for it to feed on.

Uncovered: What Else Lived Alongside The Dinosaurs?[]

“ The oceans were dominated, not by dinosaurs, but by marine reptiles. ”

― David Attenborough, Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered - What Else Lived Alongside The Dinosaurs?

Footage of Tuarangisaurus leaping in and out of the sea in the sixth segment of Coasts is used in this Uncovered segment during the section for marine reptiles. However, the true focus of this portion of the segment is Mosasaurus, with its fatal assault on a Tuarangisaurus in the fourth segment of Oceans being shown to emphasize how mosasaurs "were the greatest marine predators of all time." Following this, the dominance of pterosaurs over the skies was discussed.

Uncovered: How Fast Was A Mosasaur?[]

“ Being hit by a Mosasaurus would be a bit like being hit by a full-size semi-truck. Just the impact of the animal alone, much less the bite that would follow, would kill a lot of its prey instantly. ”

― Dr. Michael Habib, University of California

Footage of Tuarangisaurus being hunted and killed by Mosasaurus in the fourth segment of Oceans is shown in this Uncovered segment, which is dedicated to discussing how fast a mosasaur could be. Studies brought up during the segment concluded that mosasaurs could reach 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) an hour in as little as one second, hence, the impact of this massive predator slamming into prey like a medium-sized elasmosaur would have been almost always fatal.

References[]

Dr. Darren Naish[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The fourth segment of Oceans takes place in the Darwin Rise.

Prehistoric Planet[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 I Know Dino: The Big Dinosaur Podcast, Episode 446: Dinosaur-era Oceans and Darren Naish from Prehistoric Planet 2
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