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Description
Ngl im really confused by the fact of how we havent found a single Filter Feeder besides Leedsichty's in the Mesozoic fossil record yet and so i figured: What if a Sea Reptile exploited the niche? I mean for crying out loud a freaking Pterosaur took a go at it so why dint something like a Pliosaur do so? (Although im guessing that im under-informed regarding Baleen feeders. Feel free to correct me in the comments so i can update the profile!)
Im really happy with how it turned out and for a 1 hour drawing its pretty good for my standards! Im especially happy with how the body pattern looks hehe.

Anyway, onto the profile!

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Allodon Skoupisma
(The different sweeping tooth)

Family: Pliosauridae
Clade: Thalassophonea
Sub-Family: Allodontids

Length: 1400 centimeters (45'9 ft)
Weight: 15000 KG (33069 Pounds)

Time Period: 87-65 Mio. Years ago

Biography:
One of the most essential niches in the Ocean's food chain is that of the Filter Feeders. Their vital for limiting the population of the already massive amount of micro-organism's and even small fishes in the ocean.
Each grand era had its own version of these Predators, for example the Titanichtys of the late devonian or the baleen whales of today. The Jurassic meanwhile had Leedsichty's, the largest bone fish to ever exist as its grand filter feeder...but what existed after it disappeared?

The role of filter feeder was long left unoccupied after the disappearence of Leedsichty's. Not to mention the Toarcian oceanic anoxic event led to a massive decline in micro-organism's (among the extinction of thousands of marine reptile species, amongst which were the Ophtalmosaurids) and even after the event receeded the sea did not fully recover until at least 5 million years later.
One of the stand out survivors of this grand ocean extinction were the jurassic oceans most notorious predators...the Pliosaurs. These massive predators, now with almost no competition, were free to expand for most of the early and middle cretaceous. Alongside them evolved the ancient filter feeding sharks which pre-emptively filled that role until they died out alongside the pliosaurs at around 90 Million years ago. Leaving a large void once again in the oceanic fauna...

Except all was not lost. A single species of Pliosaur remained, the Allodontids. The Allodontids were a formerly minor family of the Pliosaurs who'm primarily fed on small fish. However amongst them evolved a single species that would carry on the Pliosaur legacy far into the end of the cretaceous. Allodon Skoupisma.
This unique marine reptile stood out amongst its relatives for its simple diet change to micro-organisms, even evolving baleen like structures in its jaw to become an excellent filter feeder and establishing itself at the top of the food chain amongst other inhabitants of the cretaceous ocean.
Allodon took full advantage of the unique swimming style of the pliosaurs which greatly assisted it in plowing through small fish and cretaceous krill swarms with its large pliosaur jaws allowing it to skoop up as much of them as possible (a simple and effective alternative to the throat expanding furrows of modern Baleen Whales).

Thanks to having established itself as the ocean's primary filter feeder it remained uncontested and only faced a minor population drop once Tylosaurids and other large Mosasaurs appeared in the Ocean Eco-System. Infact the reappearence of large Predators like them encouraged a behavioural change in the species that was not confirmed in any prior Pliosaur...herds.
Large groups of Allodon would gather up and generate families which gave them increased protection and ability to learn faster. This culminated in the species developing a sort of equivalent to how Whales communicate.
By channeling and releasing tiny amounts of air through their nostrils they were able to produce vibratory sounds which allowed them to communicate with one another. This also gave them a huge advantage over their predators which had not developed such a unique form of cummunication...or at least not yet.

Allodon was also one of the very few Marine Reptiles who'm actively seeked out the colder oceans. Primarily migrating to the North and South Pole quite identically as Modern Whales to spend their feeding periods in those regions when the waters became more nutritious. They particularly favored the Island system that existed between Antartica and Australia during that period and one of the very few areas during the late cretaceous that received a major influx of micro-organisms during seasonal changes unlike other parts of the world which were far too warm.

However every success will eventually disappear and with the increase in temperature around the world the Allodon population receeded until they only remained around the poles and selective island chains around the americans and Eurasia.
Their consistent presence eventually led to the evolution of specifically adapted Mosasaurs which additionally pushed them until they finally succumbed to the extinction event at the end of the cretaceous. Even being amongst the very first to die out due to their food source being relient on the sun which was blocked out by the ash and dust catapulted into the atmosphere by the meteorite.

Even though the Allodontids were amongst the very first to disappear during the grand extinction they held a strong legacy only rivalled by the fewest of prehistoric animals and being the very first, true whale imposters of the oceans.

---

Allodon© is of my own design and any and all related speculative material belongs to me.

Description
Ngl im really confused by the fact of how we havent found a single Filter Feeder besides Leedsichty's in the Mesozoic fossil record yet and so i figured: What if a Sea Reptile exploited the niche? I mean for crying out loud a freaking Pterosaur took a go at it so why dint something like a Pliosaur do so? (Although im guessing that im under-informed regarding Baleen feeders. Feel free to correct me in the comments so i can update the profile!)
Im really happy with how it turned out and for a 1 hour drawing its pretty good for my standards! Im especially happy with how the body pattern looks hehe.

Anyway, onto the profile!

---

Allodon Skoupisma
(The different sweeping tooth)

Family: Pliosauridae
Clade: Thalassophonea
Sub-Family: Allodontids

Length: 1400 centimeters (45'9 ft)
Weight: 15000 KG (33069 Pounds)

Time Period: 87-65 Mio. Years ago

Biography:
One of the most essential niches in the Ocean's food chain is that of the Filter Feeders. Their vital for limiting the population of the already massive amount of micro-organism's and even small fishes in the ocean.
Each grand era had its own version of these Predators, for example the Titanichtys of the late devonian or the baleen whales of today. The Jurassic meanwhile had Leedsichty's, the largest bone fish to ever exist as its grand filter feeder...but what existed after it disappeared?

The role of filter feeder was long left unoccupied after the disappearence of Leedsichty's. Not to mention the Toarcian oceanic anoxic event led to a massive decline in micro-organism's (among the extinction of thousands of marine reptile species, amongst which were the Ophtalmosaurids) and even after the event receeded the sea did not fully recover until at least 5 million years later.
One of the stand out survivors of this grand ocean extinction were the jurassic oceans most notorious predators...the Pliosaurs. These massive predators, now with almost no competition, were free to expand for most of the early and middle cretaceous. Alongside them evolved the ancient filter feeding sharks which pre-emptively filled that role until they died out alongside the pliosaurs at around 90 Million years ago. Leaving a large void once again in the oceanic fauna...

Except all was not lost. A single species of Pliosaur remained, the Allodontids. The Allodontids were a formerly minor family of the Pliosaurs who'm primarily fed on small fish. However amongst them evolved a single species that would carry on the Pliosaur legacy far into the end of the cretaceous. Allodon Skoupisma.
This unique marine reptile stood out amongst its relatives for its simple diet change to micro-organisms, even evolving baleen like structures in its jaw to become an excellent filter feeder and establishing itself at the top of the food chain amongst other inhabitants of the cretaceous ocean.
Allodon took full advantage of the unique swimming style of the pliosaurs which greatly assisted it in plowing through small fish and cretaceous krill swarms with its large pliosaur jaws allowing it to skoop up as much of them as possible (a simple and effective alternative to the throat expanding furrows of modern Baleen Whales).

Thanks to having established itself as the ocean's primary filter feeder it remained uncontested and only faced a minor population drop once Tylosaurids and other large Mosasaurs appeared in the Ocean Eco-System. Infact the reappearence of large Predators like them encouraged a behavioural change in the species that was not confirmed in any prior Pliosaur...herds.
Large groups of Allodon would gather up and generate families which gave them increased protection and ability to learn faster. This culminated in the species developing a sort of equivalent to how Whales communicate.
By channeling and releasing tiny amounts of air through their nostrils they were able to produce vibratory sounds which allowed them to communicate with one another. This also gave them a huge advantage over their predators which had not developed such a unique form of cummunication...or at least not yet.

Allodon was also one of the very few Marine Reptiles who'm actively seeked out the colder oceans. Primarily migrating to the North and South Pole quite identically as Modern Whales to spend their feeding periods in those regions when the waters became more nutritious. They particularly favored the Island system that existed between Antartica and Australia during that period and one of the very few areas during the late cretaceous that received a major influx of micro-organisms during seasonal changes unlike other parts of the world which were far too warm.

However every success will eventually disappear and with the increase in temperature around the world the Allodon population receeded until they only remained around the poles and selective island chains around the americans and Eurasia.
Their consistent presence eventually led to the evolution of specifically adapted Mosasaurs which additionally pushed them until they finally succumbed to the extinction event at the end of the cretaceous. Even being amongst the very first to die out due to their food source being relient on the sun which was blocked out by the ash and dust catapulted into the atmosphere by the meteorite.

Even though the Allodontids were amongst the very first to disappear during the grand extinction they held a strong legacy only rivalled by the fewest of prehistoric animals and being the very first, true whale imposters of the oceans.

---

Allodon© is of my own design and any and all related speculative material belongs to me.