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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Like the modern nautilus, this relative of modern squid hunted from inside the safe haven of a protective shell. Ammonites went extinct around the same time as the dinosaurs—65 million years ago. Find more about ocean predators in our interactive timeline Who's on Top?
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Jul 9 2010 - 12:17pm
As Dampier studied the plants he encountered in Australia, he wrote that they were “for the most part unlike any I had seen elsewhere.” In fact, nearly all the plants Dampier observed were entirely unknown to botanists at that time.
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Sep 24 2010 - 6:00pm
What makes a top predator? Razor-sharp teeth? Speed? Strength? Size? Who is the most fearsome hunter? It depends on where and when you look.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Squids come in a wide range of sizes but despite differences in size and shape, all work basically the same way inside. More about the giant squid can be found in the Giant Squid section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Rudist clams are mollusks that went extinct about 65 million years ago. They were the reef builders of the Cretaceous Period, the heyday of the dinosaurs. Today corals have taken over the role rudists once filled.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Vertebrates evolved in the sea and eventually moved onto land. The ancestors of whales later returned to the sea, taking advantage of its rich food supplies. As early whales adapted to their new marine surroundings, a diversity of species evolved. Explore the the interactive "Did Whale Evolution Go...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Hundreds of powerful suckers stud the flattened club at the end of the giant squid’s long feeding tentacle. They help the squid capture and hang on tightly to its prey. They also leave deep scars in the skin around the mouths of sperm whales as the squid fight to escape from the whale’s jaws. More...
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Aug 9 2012 - 10:27am
Where ocean currents were strong, ancient rudist “recliners” lay unattached on the seabed. Notice the pink tentacles, which were used to filter feed. Learn more about ocean life throughout deep time in our Ocean Over Time interactive or an image gallery.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
How do right whales size up? North Atlantic Right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are big, but they're not the biggest whales. That distinction goes to the Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal on Earth. While the Orca, or Killer whale size of up to 31 feet make it the largest dolphin.
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Oct 11 2012 - 9:46am
An adult giant squid struggles for survival in an encounter with a sperm whale - its only known predator. The whale will probably overpower and eat the squid. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.
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Sep 20 2011 - 3:42pm
Earth’s first animals had soft bodies. This illustration shows a community of soft-bodied Ediacaran (edi-A-karan) animals. Some species resemble living ocean creatures. Others are unlike any known organisms and cannot be classified. Scientists have found fossils of these fauna in sedimentary rocks...
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Sep 21 2011 - 9:53am
This rendering shows life at the end of the Cretaceous Period, before the impact of a 6.2 mi (10 km) asteroid triggered mass extinctions on land and sea. Dinosaurs are the most famous victims of the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago. But they weren't alone. Nearly half...
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Jul 9 2010 - 1:22pm
The waters of New Guinea teemed with exotic fishes and crabs, which were faithfully depicted by William Dampier’s artist. When Dampier’s book A Voyage to New Holland was published in 1703, illustrations like these—along with Dampier’s vivid prose—introduced enthusiastic readers to plants, birds,...
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Jul 9 2010 - 12:22pm
Dampier was not able to collect specimens of fishes and other ocean life. But he had his shipboard artist carefully record the species that Dampier found new and unusual.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This illustration shows one old idea of what the ancient shark Helicoprion might have looked like. There was room for many ideas—some more plausible than others—because the only fossils of the fish were of a strange, spiral-shaped jaw loaded with teeth. Where did it go? In its mouth, on its nose,...
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Jul 9 2010 - 1:19pm
After leaving Australia, Dampier and his men reached the western coast of New Guinea on New Year’s Day 1700. There Dampier observed birds that he had never seen before, like the “stately land-fowl” shown here.
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Dec 8 2010 - 12:54pm
Scientists met the robotic glider Scarlet Knight about halfway along its journey of scientific exploration from the United States to Spain, discovering that barnacles were growing on the glider’s body, as this graphic illustrates. As algae began to grow on the glider’s exterior surface, small sea...
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Jun 6 2012 - 2:17pm
A sea monster attacks a ship in an illustration for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. The illustration is by publisher and artist Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who is most famous for his drawings in Verne's books.
This terrifying monster looks a lot like an octopus or squid, which do little harm...
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Dec 8 2010 - 1:02pm
This illustration shows how Scarlet Knight, the first unmanned, underwater robot or glider to cross an ocean basin, faced an entire fleet of fishing ships, equipped with nets, threatening the glider’s path across the continental shelf. “Crossing the shelf is like running across the New Jersey...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Like octopods and cuttlefishes, giant squid have eight arms. But they use their two much longer feeding tentacles to seize prey. The tentacles have powerful suckers at the ends. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Squids come in a wide range of sizes, from smaller-than-your-thumb to the enormous giant squid. Giant squid grow up to 16 meters (50 feet). Learn more the life, range, and ecology of the giant squid in the Giant Squid section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A scientific illustration of the most powerful fish of its time, Carcharodon megalodon, which swam the ocean 30 million years ago. This shark may have reached a size of 20 meters/66 feet. Meet other ancient top predators and modern great white sharks.
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Jul 29 2010 - 4:31pm
This slideshow features illustrations of some of the plants and animals that William Dampier, a naturalist and pirate, observed in Australia (then known as New Holland) and New Guinea. Learn more about Dampier in the Ocean Portal article The Pirate Who Collected Plants.
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Jul 13 2010 - 3:33pm
In 1699, accompanied by a shipboard artist, William Dampier conducted the first scientific investigation of the plants and animals of Australia (then known as New Holland). From there he and his crew sailed to New Guinea, where Dampier had his artist draw this bat with a four-foot wingspan and...
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