Mastodonsaurus giganteus vs. Liopleurodon ferox

[dinosauria101]

Mastodonsaurus giganteus

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Mastodonsaurus_DB.jpg/800px-Mastodonsaurus_DB.jpg

Order: Temnospondyli
Family: Mastodonsauridae
Length: 6.15 meters
Mass: 2.1 tonnes
Diet: Fish
Age and Location: 210 million years ago, Late Triassic, Germany
Weapons: Slicing jaws
The largest known amphibian. Thought to be entirely aquatic.

Liopleurodon ferox

www.thoughtco.com/thmb/XhdWJ7QFVGb49fbyJzCyJfOJKKI=/1400x873/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/liopleurodonWC3-56a2570b3df78cf772748d64.jpg

Order: Plesiosauria
Family: Pliosauridae
Length: 4.8-7 meters
Mass: 1-2.5 tonnes
Diet: Fish and marine reptiles
Age and Location: 150 million years ago, Late Jurassic, Europe and Russia
Weapons: Slicing jaws
One of the most famous of the pliosaurs. Often said to grow to 25 meters but this is inaccurate due to an error of BBC.

[6f5e4d]

Liopleurodon is much bigger than Mastodonsaurus, and has a much stronger bite compared to it, so it seems to have the advantage here.

[Infinity Blade]

If Mastodonsaurus' skin was anything like that of the vast majority of modern lissamphibians, just being in saltwater could eventually kill it. From what I understand there is one modern saltwater amphibian (the crab-eating frog) and the reason it can survive in such an environment is because its kidneys produce a lot of urea that allow it to maintain osmotic equilibrium in a saltwater environment. Otherwise, it would dehydrate.

But I'm not sure how much this was the case for ancient lissamphibians. Then again, Mastodonsaurus somehow doesn't particularly strike me as a saltwater animal.

[dinosauria101]

Ouch. That's rough.

Would fresh water kill Liopleurodon? Maybe a fight in a deep lake would be fairer

[Infinity Blade]

Would fresh water kill Liopleurodon?

No. It's just that any ventures into freshwater Liopleurodon may have made would probably have been rare.

[dinosauria101]

I suppose that'd be a more even matchup than saltwater, than.

[6f5e4d]

Some temnospondyls may have evidence of scales and the possibility of being able to go into saltwater because of that, however, the Liopleurodon would most likely still have an advantage over Mastodonsaurus with its stronger bite.