The Late Miocene Eastern Pacific was arguably the deadliest ocean to have ever existed, at least in terms of large predator diversity. Aside from Livyatan, there were other, smaller raptorial sperm whales, and other raptorial cetacean lineages such as squalodonts were also around. Sharks were also highly successful, with the Otodus genus having produced the infamous Otodus megalodon, the only real competition for Livyatan in terms of predatory capability. The gavialid crocodilian Piscogavialis also lurked in these waters, as did several large pinnipeds such as Hadrokirus and Acrophoca (the latter a relative of today’s leopard seal). There was even a large penguin with a massive hooked bill and opportunistic, gull-like eating habits, called Spheniscus megaramphus. But most of these predators, especially the marine mammals, would die out before the end of the Miocene. Livyatan (and a much smaller raptorial sperm whale, Acrophyseter) was among the last of the killer sperm whales, managing to just make it into the Pliocene before going extinct 5MYA. Although other, later physeteroids like the dubious genus “Hoplocetus” have been suggested to be raptorial, there is little support for this idea. The demise of the raptorial sperm whales left a gap of several million years where there were no cetaceans that functioned as raptorial apex predators; within this gap, Otodus megalodon also went extinct, leaving the position of dominant marine predator vacant. At this point ancestral orcas were around, but they were much smaller and less physically formidable than modern orcas, and not able to kill large prey (even if we take pack hunting into account; you don’t see bottlenose dolphins killing and eating marine mammals simply because they hunt in packs). It would take the evolution of modern orcas for cetaceans to return to this particular ecological niche.
@@dino-gen Hi ! I think your figure of a 20 tons bite force is somehow premature, there are not yet biomechanical analysis of its bite force (I presume this might come soon), and the ones I've seen derived online from those published for Basilosaurus and Zygophyseter were more modest at about 12.5 t and 7.5 t respectively. So unsure how one has calculated 20 t for Livyatan other than by sheer guess.
The livyatan is an inspiration for one of the recurring...elements...in stories I've been writing [though have not published yet]. But it just bugs me that the reason they named it the Livyatan was because "leviathan" was taken. By an animal that had nothing to do with the sea. What the hell was that scientist thinking??? I swear it's up there with the guy who decided to name a monkey after a Thracian king, just to show off what he knew about Classical mythology.
Want longer video on super moby dick!! Also, you should check out the creation museum in Kentucky, it might change your mind about evolution…just kidding-it’s wildly absurd but it is located in the state just south you (because I know you live in OHIO!)… ha! Love the videos sir! The joke about t-Rex’s D-shaped teeth made me blow a snot bubble laughing! Cheers from Kentucky
Why is your channel so small? The videos are really well done, you’ve got a great speaking voice, and, as has been stated, you’re hot af 🥵 You should be burying bones not digging them up
I do love your videos. That being said, the Biblical Leviathan and Behemoth were West-Semitic chaos monsters. Behemoth was likely based on the Auroch, and Leviathan is now considered an anthropomorphism of Watery Chaos. The other leviathans of the Age of Exploration, I wholly accept the idea that is was based on the sightings of Whale penises. 😂
