Depends on body proportions: length isn't everything. Physeter is pretty chunky.So even if estimates of its length are more or less accurate, the largest icthyosaur is not only longer but also will be more massive?
The artists rendition of said beast in last year's National Geographic
certainly put it in the Sperm whale class.
Can anyone speculate if this find even outclasses the several undescribedSure. S. sikanniensis is way bigger than the upper range of body sizes that can be speculated for UK pliosaur material ;-). Unless there's been some new material, it's difficult to stretch a length for a mega-pliosaur much past 15-16m, and I think even that could be pushing it.
large pliosaur finds from the UK, which the WWD series ran away pell-mell
with on the Liopluridon segment "fantasy" segment?
I hope someone sends the group of researchers on both these finds a pile of money so that work could proceed quickly on getting some sort of descriptions published - ancient marine reptiles are fascinating.
Great idea!
-- Colin McHenry Computation Biomechanics Research Group http://www.compbiomech.com/ School of Engineering (Mech Eng) University of Newcastle NSW 2308
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