[Animals]Mosasaur - The Great Marine Reptile

[Ronaldskk.]

Complete skeleton of a 15 foot Mosasaur: Clidastes propython. Clidastes would have looked very similar to a snake in life. Name: Mosasaur (pronunciation: "moh-suh-sawr") - it means "Lizard of the Meuse River" 'Mosa' stands for the Meuse river in Holland - the location where mosasaurs were first described. 'Saur' (Sauros) is greek for lizard. Taxonomy: Class: Reptilia - Order: Squamata - Superfamily: Mosasauroidea - Family: Mosasauridae Subfamilies: Halisaurine, Mosasaurinae, Plioplatecarpinae, Tylosaurinae Mosasaurs ARE NOT DINOSAURS. They are reptiles and are closely related to snakes and monitor lizards. Age: Cretaceous Mosasaurs went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous during the end Cretaceous mass extinction event. Jurassic World vs Real Life: Half the Size The Tylosaurus mosasaur shown on the Jurassic Park movie was the largest mosasaur to exist. In real life it grew up to 50 feet in length. It's hard to figure out the exact size of the mosasaur in the movie, but it's conservatively somewhere around 100 feet, which is at least twice the real life size. Also, the Tylosaurus shown in Jurassic World looks more like an aquatic godzilla. In real life, evidence shows they had a caudal fin (tail) like a shark and very smooth snake-like skin. Remember, the movie is an action packed Hollywood blockbuster, it's not meant to be scientific. Discovery: Holland, 1764 The first described mosasaur fossils were found in a limestone quarry on the Meuse River in Holland in 1764. Native Americans in the Midwest U.S. had found mosasaur fossils long before the first described fossils. They drew images of them, thought the fossils had special powers, and may have thought they were the remains of the mythological beings Wakinyan (Thunder beings) and Unktehila (Water monsters). Distribution: Nearly Global: Mosasaurs lived in the seas during the Cretaceous. Fossils are found in Cretaceous rock units on almost every continent from North and South America, to Europe, Asia, and Australia. In Hungary, A freshwater Mosasaur has even been found! Body Size: 3 to 50 feet Some, such as Dallasaurus were only 3 feet in length. While others, like Tylosaurus, grew up to 50 feet in length. Most mosasaurs were over 10 feet in length. Diet: Anything! Stomach contents of mosasaurs reveal ammonites, bony fish, sea turtles, plesiosaurs, and even sea birds! It appears they could eat whatever they wanted. Physical Appearance: Mosasaurs were sleek, streamlined, and fast! They had flipper like paddles for arms and legs and a tail fin. They propelled themselves by mianly moving the large fin on their tail in a side to side motion. Mosasaurs were also covered in smooth scales which were very dark in color. Snake-Like: Similar to snakes, Mosasaurs had jaws could expand to help swallow large whole prey. Also, like a snake, mosasaurs had two sets of teeth in their upper jaws. This second set was smaller and set further back in the jaw. These teeth would help hold on to struggling prey as the animal swallowed it whole. They Breathed Air: Although mosasaurs were aquatic, they were reptiles, which means they had to surface to breathe air, like a sea turtle today. Live Birth: A 2015 study found that Mosasaurs gave live birth in the open ocean.