Top ten ocean predators of all time

Not bad, can't say I agree with every detail you have, but you have a good top 10. I don't know if Plesiosaurus should be on there though. Especially ahead of Elasmosaurus. Perhaps Shoniosaurus instead.

Ya, the plesiosaur is a little iffy, huh?

And though there may be a few slightly off details, I did this all by memory, so it's not increadibly accurate.

What about Mauisaurus, Monster of Aramberri, Pliosaurus Macromerus, Dorset Pliosaur and Livyatan Melvillei?

we'll normally I would put those on, but they should be truly apex. Other animals ruled a higher throne than those animals. Plus, animals from the paleazoic deserve more recognition as well. There's not enough room, and none of the animals you named were truly apex. That, and I want general people to be able to understand the animals on this list. If I were to do a more advanced prehistory nut list, some of those animals would definitely be on it. Thanks Makavelli!

I think the Monster of Aramberri would be. It may be the same as Liopleurodon though. I do like that you included Basilosaurus.

@futurepaleontologist Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mosasaurus and Liopleurodon would have been smaller than you have listed here. Larger skeletons of both suggest that neither animal would have exceeded thirty to thirty-five feet. I like Elasmosaurus in the #1 slot!! FTW

Elasmosaurus was in the last spot friend. :-) . And there have been 40 foot Mososaurs found, as well as liopleurodon.

Mosasaurus hoffami has been recorded at reaching 50-60 ft. It's also known as the Giant Mosasaur. I am one of the ones who believe Liopleurodon was up to 85 ft. But I could be wrong.

Crap. haha lol totally overlooked that one..... well thanks anyway ;)

Mosasaurs were large but quite slender. Just like Basilosaurus, a very long but slender, and smaller jawed. Quite primitive archeocete byt the way. Despite what argues the BBC, it probably did not exceed 10 tons. Why have you not put megalodon as top 1 ? It was far more heftier, heavier than any mosasaur, pliosaur or basilosaur. The commonly estimated weight is 50 tons, and often more. Its jaws were 8,5 feet wide and 6 feet high. It fed on giant whales (the largest prey in the sea) and dominated all the seas during more than 20 millions years. Check the facts guys and don't be biased toward reptiles ;) By the way, it's bee a whiiiile we know that no pliosaur reached 80 feet (the worst joke ever) and actually the largest known pliosaur is Pliosaurus macromerus (the Cumnor Monster), which has been estimated in 2009 by Colin McHenry at up to 42 feet and an approx. 20 tons. According to McHenry, Aramberri was smaller. Your problem guys is that you don't have access to informations and only take flawed or outdated stuff from bad sources like topix and some books (books cannot be updated when research is...). The greatest marine predator of all time is probablu Carcharocles or depending the opinion Livyatan, which was large and impressive but is only known from Middle Miocene Peru, whereas Carcharocles dominated all the seas from Miocene until Pliocene, so a much longer dominance when Livyatan disappeared. Also, megalodon seems to have had larger jaws in sheer volume potency. A recent dry experimentation determined that a 52 feet megalodon would have taken in one single bite at least 1890 pounds of organic substances. And this is not a maximum sized individual... So a count Carcharocles megalodon as number one, by far over any large marine reptiles, or depending the viewpoint, Livyatan, which is sadly quite uknown and in which the upper size estimates (57 feet) does not reach the upper estimate in megalodon (67 feet).

All the info I gather is up to date and I combine/compare it with my own theories and estimations. You can't just go off of what scientists say. The only way new theories are formed is if someone decides to challenge the old ones with their own. That's what I do. If someone else does not like it, too bad. That's how I role.

Sorry but you're not up to date, several size figures are off, and you can't mix actual facts with your own preferences. If you want to learn about the history and evolution of the greatest oceans predators since the Mesozoic and their ecological battles, check that 2012 up to date video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4p9EWuVxYQ

But, I'm looking at how apex predators were in their environment, not compared to other predators

The Liopleurodon length came from BBC. It is now considered among the most inaccurate information ever put into a documentary. The size estimate came from the Monster of Aramberri specimen that was found. It was approximately 40 feet long, but was apparently a juvenile eaten by a much larger individual. They are now considered different species. Perhaps this will show you how inaccurate that size is. [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Large_Predatory_Pliosaur_Size.jpg[/img] Real Lio was the size of BBC's Lio's head. I don't doubt that monster of Aramberri adults were over 50 feet, but 80+ is a stretch. Just sayin, not hatin. Just trying to inform you.

Thanks for informing the masses Makaveli! Nice chart too, where did you find it?

Fair enough, futurepaleontologist. Yes, in terms of dominance and times, mosasaurines and tylosaurines were the most dominant predators in their environment. They've dominated the seas during more than 15 millions years and wiped out their primary rivals, the large sharks such as Ginsu. Megalodon was probably second as the most dominant predatory animal ever as species. This beast ruled all the seas during almost three geological eras... Makaveli, the monster of Aramberri has been estimated recentl by Colin McHenry at 12 m and 15 tonnes. It was not a juvenile but an individual retaining juvenil features, called paedomorphy. This has been also observed in others specimens of adults pliosaurs. So it wasn't a juvenile but a very large pliosaur. Not the largest, it seems that the largest pliosaur known to date is Pliosaurus macromerus, the largest specimen (Cumnor Monster) being estimated by Mchenry at 12,7 m and almost 20 tonnes. The predator X upper estimate is not valid anymore. The beast was 10-12 m as P. funkei. Those who are interested in big reading, here is the link toward McHenry paper. This is a 600 pages thesis about primarily Kronosaurus (10,5 m, 11 tonnes but also about others pliosaurs. http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12164;jsessionid=8BB21C73CEFA70F25A378EF87B6E50AD?exact=subject%3A%22palaeoecology%22