Ancient Sea Reptiles

Dive into prehistoric waters and discover extraordinary sea monsters who reigned the ocean for 150 million years

Ancient Sea Reptiles: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and More examines the anatomy, behavior, diversity, lifestyle, and evolutionary rise of creatures who conquered the seas for 150 million years during the Mesozoic era. Expert paleontologist Darren Naish puts these fearsome and mighty creatures under the microscope and transports readers to wild and primeval waters. In this gorgeously illustrated book, amazing creatures leap off the page, including: 

Mosasaurs, known as “T-Rexes of the deep"Cretaceous sea snakesLong-necked plesiosaursCrocodile-like thalattosuchians, the earliest sea turtles Ancient Sea Reptiles features fossil photography and artistic reconstructions of ancient creatures, from evolutionary anomalies to apex predators who survived extinction events, with chapters that include: 

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Evolution

Chapter 3: Form and Function

Chapter 4: Invading the Mesozic Oceans

Chapter 5: Shark-Shaped Reptiles: The Ichthyosaurs

Chapter 6: Long Necks, Big Mouths: Plesiosaurs and Their Kin

Chapter 7: Sea Crocs: The Thalattosuchians

Chapter 8: Mosasaurs: The Great Lizard Lizards

Chapter 9: Sea Turtles

Chapter 10: After the Mesozoic

More than 80 percent of the world’s vast ocean is unmapped and unobserved, prompting the imagination to run wild on what might lurk in its depths. But Ancient Sea Reptiles proves that what stirs the imagination even more are the spectacular prehistoric creatures that have already been discovered. The book is a feast for the eyes and the scientific mind.

Story Locale:The ocean

About the Author

DARREN NAISH is a vertebrate paleontologist and research associate at the University of Southampton. He is the coauthor of Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved.

Author Residence: Portsmouth, England