RE: Sauropterygian falls?

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Renatos Santos wrote:

> Perhaps off topic but I can't help wonder what animals would constitute 
> this type of communities in the Mesozoic as there were sauropterygians and 
> ichthyosaurs in those days.

(Thanks for the link to a very interesting article.)

My understanding of this stuff (which is reinforced by the Nature article) 
is that whale carcasses provide the foundation of a unique ecosystem due to 
the sheer size and 'fattiness' of the beasts.

As the article says: "Worms, clams and mussels, to name but a few, all take 
up residence, each getting their metabolic fix from the chemical energy 
provided by the fat-rich marrow in whale bones.  Such complex communities 
have not been reported on the bones of other marine mammals, says Craig 
Smith, a whale-fall expert from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  This is 
probably because whale bones are so much larger and fat-rich, he says."