Liopleurodon King of the Carnivores Read online

  Lio

  King of the

  Carnivores

  by

  Michael Zucker

  Copyright © 2010 by Michael Zucker

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

  All names, characters and events in this book are fictitious and a

  product of the author’s imagination.

  First Edition

  Printed in the United States of America

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

  ISBN 978-0-578-08206-6

  Printed by

  Think Patented Printing, Dayton, Ohio

  March 2011

  To my Grandma and Grandpa,

  Carole and Skip,

  I love you.

  Table of Contents

  Section 1: Genesis

  Jurassic

  Luke Jones

  The Lecture

  Arctic

  Internet

  Navy Base

  Released

  Whale Shark

  The First Victim

  The Morning After

  Meeting

  Section 2: Early Terrors

  Jet Ski

  Humpback

  Dolphin

  Parthenogenesis

  Statistics

  The First Fight

  Documentary of Death

  Proposal

  Blue Whale

  Tracking Device

  Smell Suit

  Section 3: King of the Seas

  Thrill Seeker

  Cage Diving

  Birth

  Balcony

  Fishing Boat

  Zodiac Battle

  Battle with Sperm Whale

  The Switch

  Section 4: Final Battles

  From Bad…To Worse

  Will Harris

  Shawn Ryan

  Orcas

  Preparations

  Attack!

  King of the Carnivores

  Liopleurodon

  SECTION ONE

  GENESIS

  “In the beginning, while the path is not clear,

  it shows future events that lead to dramatic and deadly conclusions.” -- BEN ROSS

  Chapter 1

  Jurassic

  It is the late Jurassic period, approximately 155 million years ago. In the waters seventy-five miles north of present-day England lives an enormous sea monster. Liopleurodon ferox: at one hundred and fifty tons, it is the largest and most powerful carnivore to have ever lived. This is a large female, and judging by her colossal length of eighty feet, she is over one hundred years old.

  This Liopleurodon used to have a large territory near England, but because of temperature changes, it has been forced to head north in the search of food. Liopleurodon has three distinct colors. Its black back allows it to blend in with the seabed. This is camouflage for when animals look down at it, and they cannot tell they are being stalked. The second color is a white stomach that blends in with the sun, so its prey cannot tell when the Liopleurodon is above them. The final color is the red stripes running down its back. While these stripes are not for camouflage, they are used to intimidate other large female Liopleurodon. Because of her old age, the red stripes are beginning to fade, but her size is more than enough intimidation for most animals.

  Liopleurodon are a type of sea reptile known as pliosaur. Pliosaurs evolved from the plesiosaurs, which are known for their extremely long necks that help it sneak up on schools of fish. Pliosaurs, on the other hand, no longer have the long necks of their relatives, but instead have an enormous set of jaws that would cause certain death for virtually any animal that gets caught in them.

  Liopleurodon’s crocodilian jaws are ten feet long and work like a car crusher, if car crushers had foot long teeth as sharp as steak knives. Their jaws have a bite force of over seventy thousand pounds. That is more than enough to pulverize a boulder of granite into smithereens! Liopleurodon’s jaws are connected to a sixteen-foot-long skull. That is larger than the bodies of several dinosaur species, including the vicious raptors.

  Liopleurodon is the weight of fifty great white sharks. Its reinforced ribcage allows three things. First: it allows the Liopleurodon to thrust its flippers harder, making the Liopleurodon faster than any living whale alive today. Second: it allows the Liopleurodon to thrash its neck, which it uses to tear apart large prey under the water. Third: it protects its heart and lungs from the attack of other Liopleurodon.

  The Liopleurodon has two pairs of twelve-foot-long flippers, totaling four in all. The Liopleurodon’s short tail is not good for much, except maybe balancing out its large skull. On

  the top of her head are two large nostrils. They are spread far apart for a reason. Liopleurodon has a directional sense of smell, meaning that they work similar to that of the human ears. Whichever one picks up a smell first will help steer the largest carnivorous jaws ever known.

  …

  The large female Liopleurodon’s nostrils are not working as well as they should, however. The reason is that it has recently had a kill, and the rotting flesh and blood of the dead Leedsichthys is still stuck between the Liopleurodon’s tusk-like fangs. The only smell that the Liopleurodon can pick up is that of the blood.

  A Leedsichthys is the only animal in these Jurassic waters larger than Liopleurodon. At ninety feet long, adult Leedsichthys are nearly the size of the blue whale, and are about as docile. Leedsichthys, like most modern whales, are filter feeders, which mean that they only eat small shrimp and plankton.

  The Liopleurodon had attacked a large male Leedsichthys, and had killed it easily. But because of its enormous size, it must hunt again, and with its nostrils only picking up the scent of its previous victim’s blood, it is having a hard time finding a meal. The Liopleurodon swims to the surface and takes an enormous breath of air, and then heads to the bottom of the sea bed. There, the Liopleurodon can hold its breath for over an hour.

  Within twenty minutes, an Ophthalmosaurus comes swimming overhead. At just fifteen feet long, this dolphin-like reptile is smaller than Liopleurodon’s skull, but it is still one of its favorite preys. The Ophthalmosaurus has a bluish-white coloring and has a long snout that is good for grabbing small fish. Ophthalmosaurus is a type of marine reptile called ichthyosaur. This is one of the first types of marine reptiles to live in the water. Some ichthyosaurs, such as Shonisaurus, which lived in the Triassic, could get up to fifty feet long. But unlike Liopleurodon, which attacked and killed anything it desired, Shonisaurus only ate creatures like squid.

  Ophthalmosaurus means “eye lizard” and with good reason. For its body size, Ophthalmosaurus’ eyes are enormous. This not only helps them watch for predators, but allows them to be nocturnal hunters. They eat things like squid, which can be rare during the day.

  With eyes close to the top of her head, the Liopleurodon can easily see the Ophthalmosaurus. The enormous predator attacks from below, her twelve foot flippers propelling her forward. But the Ophthalmosaurus can smell the blood in the Liopleurodon’s teeth, and realizes what is coming. With a quick turn-and-dash, the Ophthalmosaurus narrowly escapes death from the Liopleurodon’s jaws. The Liopleurodon explodes through the surface of the water, but only bites a mouthful of air.

  The Liopleurodon crashes back into the sea, and immediately begins looking for the Ophthalmosaurus. The small ichthyosaur quickly swims away. The Liopleurodon begins her pursuit, but it is hopeless. She may be faster than a whale, but she is nowhere near as
fast as the Ophthalmosaurus. But the Liopleurodon is not ready to give up yet, and continues swimming after her prey.

  After several minutes, the Ophthalmosaurus is exhausted, and stops swimming. It looks back, only to find that the Liopleurodon is not far behind. The Ophthalmosaurus begins swimming again, only to realize that the water is getting colder. At first he ignores it, but then the freezing water begins to affect his cold-blooded body, slowing him. The Liopleurodon begins slowing too.

  Within a few moments, the reptiles see what the cause of the temperature change is an enormous iceberg. The Liopleurodon continues to try to close the gap between it and the Ophthalmosaurus, but the cold has slowed her heartbeat, and she can barely move. The water begins to push the Liopleurodon close to the iceberg. Within moments, a large chunk of the iceberg breaks off, and encircles the Liopleurodon, trapping it with in a prison of ice.

  Too cold to move, the Liopleurodon can do nothing but watch as the water surrounding her immediately begins freezing.

  The greatest predator of all time goes into a state of suspended animation, and by nightfall, is completely frozen alive. This is where she will stay, for the next 155 million years…

  Chapter 2

  Luke Jones

  In present-day Texas, a man is preparing to give a speech. His name is Luke Jones, and he graduated from University of Montana with a Ph.D. in paleontology. Thirty years ago, when Luke was only five years old, his parents took him on a summer trip to Iceland. While kayaking off of the coast, they looked in awe at beautiful glaciers. With light shining down upon them, Luke believed he saw something within one of the ice masses. It was an enormous frozen animal trapped within. His young imagination convinced him that it was seeing a prehistoric sea monster. Excited, he pointed out the beast to his father, who did not appreciate what his son had observed. His father relayed the story to Luke’s mother, who found it equally amusing. Luke never shared his thoughts about his discovery with anyone after his parents’ skeptical reaction. Little did they he know he was correct.

  He is now thirty-five years old, and specializes in prehistoric marine reptiles. Luke’s favorite subject is the group of marine reptiles known as pliosaurs. They are short-necked prehistoric sea creature with large jaws.

  Luke's reputation as a scientist suffered five years ago, when he announced his theory that the pliosaur Liopleurodon was eighty feet long and was the largest predator of all time. As a Liopleurodon skeleton of that size had never been found, he has been ridiculed in academic circles for this unpopular theory.

  Luke parks his car in the lot for the paleontology department building. He gets out, and heads to the area back stage. He scratches an itch in his short, black goatee and brushes some of his long black hair away from his eyes. I can’t believe that I’m going to see the old gang again. It’s been five years since the team broke up. The only one that I’ve had any contact with is Will, Luke thinks excitedly. Luke stands up on his toes and tries to look over the crowd to see if he can find his friends. Within a few moments, he sees Kelsey Fainter waiting by the bathroom.

  Kelsey is a year younger than Luke and has long blonde hair. He notices that she is tan and looks like she just got back from vacation.

  “You know, for someone who studies Ice Age mammals, you spend a lot of time in the sun,” Luke says as he passes by her. He was doing his best to sound clever as she still makes him slightly nervous. He knows she is out of his league.

  She looks at him, confused, unable to recognize him for a few moments. Then, he notices a sparkle come to her eyes as she realizes who he is. “Luke! Oh my, how have you been?” She says as she gives him a big tight hug.

  “I’ve been okay,” he says as she gives him a quick hug. Kelsey studies the animals that were around when the first humans evolved. “You look great.”

  “Why, thank you, so do you,” Kelsey says, blushing. Then Luke learns why Kelsey is waiting by the bathroom door. It is not because she is waiting for the women’s bathroom to become available, she is waiting for her boyfriend, Shawn Ryan. Shawn has short blonde hair and a charming smile. He exits the men’s bathroom as he gives Kelsey a quick kiss. Then she turns back to Luke and says, “Luke, you remember Shawn, don’t you?”

  “Of course,” Luke says as he shakes Shawn’s hand. Shawn is one year older than Luke. Luke and Shawn used to be close friends. The fact that Shawn is dating the woman that Luke loves strains their friendship.

  “Yeah,” Shawn begins, “I’m not sure if you knew we were together. We ran into each other at the supermarket two years ago.”

  Shawn specializes in mass extinctions. Mass extinctions are events that wipe out a huge percentage of life on Earth. Of all of the mass extinctions, Shawn finds the Permian extinction the most fascinating. The Permian extinction was caused by a volcanic eruption the size of the United States, and it wiped out over ninety-five percent of all life on Earth. The Earth has never come so close to total annihilation.

  “Yeah, I heard about you guys,” Luke says awkwardly. “I’m going to see if I can find Will before you give your speech.” Luke hurries away, his throat feeling dry. It’s not fair! How did Shawn end up with her? Oh well, I bet Will can cheer me up.

  A hand comes through the crowd and signals him over. Luke walks over to his best friend, Will Harris. Will has short brown hair and has brown eyes. Luke and Will are the same age, and met at University of Montana. The two were both in the paleontology department and were grad school roommates. Will specializes in large theropods, which are carnivorous dinosaurs. Luke immediately notices that Will has a beer bottle in his hand, which Will empties with a five second chug.

  “What’s the matter, Luke? You look depressed,” Will says, noticing something wrong with his friend.

  “Nothing, just, you know, seeing Kelsey with Shawn.”

  “You still hung up on her?” Will asks.

  “More than ever,” Luke responds. “Do you really think that you should be drinking before the lecture?” He quickly changes the subject.

  Will shrugged as he tosses the beer bottle into the recycling. “I’m kind of immune to drinking,” he says, as he begins to lose his footing, dizzy from the alcohol.

  “Right,” Luke says, as he helps Will sit down.

  “I forgot, what is this speech about again?” Will asks.

  “Something about humans being responsible for the extinction of the mammoth. It seems more like Kelsey’s thing than mine. I don’t get what we’re doing here.”

  “They probably want to see the team back together.”

  “They don’t care about me, not since my theories have been ridiculed.” Will begins to respond, but Luke isn’t listening. He sees a man in the corner of his eye. The man is completely bald on top and has thinning hair on the sides. He is slightly overweight, and wears square glasses in front of his light blue eyes. Luke could recognize him anywhere.

  His name is Ben Ross, and it was Luke’s argument with him that broke the group apart years ago. Ben studies evolution. When Luke tried to explain his theory about the Liopleurodon to his friends, Ben became furious. Ben has always had very little patience for those he believed were wrong.

  “What is he doing here?” Luke demands to know.

  “Who, Ben? Didn’t you hear? The whole group was invited.”

  “No, and I certainly wouldn’t have come if I’d known!” Luke exclaims.

  “Calm down, big guy, just ignore him. We are just here to back Kelsey up if she needs us. You don’t even need to talk to him.”

  “Oh, I’m going to talk to him!” Luke roars as he gets up and runs over to Ben before Will can stop him. “Hey, Ben!”

  Ben puts the book that he was reading down, and looks up at Luke. “Oh, great, you’re here,” he says with disgust.

  “That’s right. I’m here, and I think that I deserve an apology.”

  Ben gave a quick laugh as he says, “Please, you brought everything upon yourself. You’re not a scientist, Jones, you never were.”

&
nbsp; “Tell that to the University of Montana, which has one of the best paleontology departments in the country,” Luke snaps.

  “What, the college that you humiliated? Do you know the kind of ribbing your department chair took when you proposed your groundless theory that Liopleurodons were eighty feet in length? There is no evidence that they were?”

  “My theory about Liopleurodon is just that, my theory. I don’t care if you believe me.”

  “Theory? For it to be a theory, you have to have some evidence, which as far as I’m concerned, you have none. So here’s an idea, how about you stop saying such idiotic ideas, and I’ll stop proving you wrong every time, okay?” Luke makes a fist, ready to punch Ben in the face. “What are you going to do? Punch me? Go ahead, I dare you!” Ben says almost delighted.

  Luke is prepared to, and then he begins thinking about Kelsey. What would she think of me if she knew that I attacked Ben? It’s not the mature way to handle things.

  He unclenches his fist, turns around, and walks away, as Ben says, “You’re just a fake that can’t accept reality for what it is!”

  Luke takes a seat in a leather chair and decides to use the last few minutes before the speech to think. Ben’s words begin replaying themselves in his head. “You’re just a fake who can’t accept reality for what it really is!”

  Those were the last words that Ben said to Luke the night the gang broke up…

  …

  …Five years ago, Luke, Kelsey, Will, Shawn and Ben were all sitting in Kelsey’s apartment, enjoying their dinner. Luke was only thirty, it was a simpler time. After eating the pizza that Shawn had ordered, each member of the gang took their turn reading the article that Ben wrote for a science magazine titled, “Evolution of Sharks.”