Mosasaurs Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Mosasaurus. Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England Mosasaurus (ˌmoʊzəˈsɔrəs ("lizard of the Meuse River " was a genus of Mosasaur, a carnivorous aquatic Lizard, somewhat resembling
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Order: Squamata Suborder: Scleroglossa Infraorder: Anguimorpha Family: Mosasauridae Gervais, 1853
Subfamilies
Halisaurinae Mosasaurinae Plioplatecarpinae Tylosaurinae

Mosasaurs (from Latin Mosa meaning the 'Meuse river' in the Netherlands, and Greek sauros meaning 'lizard') were serpentine marine reptiles. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Squamata (scaled reptiles is the largest recent order of Reptiles including Lizards and Snakes Members of the order are distinguished by Anguimorphs of the infraorder Anguimorpha include Alligator lizards Galliwasps Legless lizards Knobby lizards Paul Gervais full name François Louis Paul Gervaise ( September 26, 1816 - February 10, 1879) was a French Palaeontologist In Biological classification, family ( Latin Halisaurinae, then to Halisaurus (Russell 1967 p 369) which was also considered a member of the Mosasaurinae at that time Mosasaurinae (Gervais 1853; Williston 1897) is a Subfamily of Mosasaurs a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine Squamates Plioplatecarpinae is a Subfamily of Mosasaurs a diverse group of late Cretaceous marine Squamates Russell (1967 pp Tylosaurinae is a Subfamily of Mosasaurs a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine Lizards Russell (1967 pp Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Meuse (in Dutch and in German: "Maas" in Latin: "Mosa" in Celtic:"Mus" (the rootword presumingly The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers The first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1778. Maastricht ( Dutch; Limburgish and city dialect Mestreech; French: Maestricht or Maëstricht; Spanish: These ferocious marine predators are now considered to be the closest relatives of snakes, due to cladistic analysis of symptomatic similarities in jaw and skull anatomies. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of Species based on evolutionary ancestry ^[1] Mosasaurs were not dinosaurs but lepidosaurs, reptiles with overlapping scales. The Lepidosauria are Reptiles with overlapping scales They include the Tuataras Lizards Snakes and Amphisbaenians Lepidosaurians These predators evolved from semi-aquatic squamates^[2] known as the aigialosaurs, close relatives of modern-day monitor lizards, in the Early Cretaceous Period. Squamata (scaled reptiles is the largest recent order of Reptiles including Lizards and Snakes Members of the order are distinguished by Aigialosauridae ( Greek, aigialos = "seashore" + sauros = Lizard) is family of Late Cretaceous semi- aquatic Monitor lizards are the family Varanidae, a group of carnivorous lizards which includes the largest living lizard the Komodo dragon. The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of During the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous Period (Turonian-Maastrichtian), with the extinction of the ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs, mosasaurs became the dominant marine predators. The Turonian is a stage of the Late Cretaceous Epoch. It spans the time between 93 The Maastrichtian is the last stage of the Cretaceous period, and therefore of the Mesozoic era. Ichthyosaurs ( Greek for 'fish lizard' - ιχθυς / ichthyos meaning 'fish' and σαυρος / sauros meaning 'lizard' were giant The Pliosaurs ("more lizards" were marine reptiles from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods.

Known genera include Clidastes, Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, Globidens, Plotosaurus, Plesiotylosaurus, Carinodens, Dallasaurus, Igdamanosaurus, Halisaurus, Tylosaurus, Platecarpus, Selmasaurus, Plioplatecarpus, Amphekepubis, Goronyosaurus, Liodon, Moanasaurus, Pluridens, Lakumasaurus, Yaguarasaurus, Eonatator, Hainosaurus, Tethysaurus, Angolasaurus, Kourisodon and Russellosaurus. A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic Clidastes is an extinct Genus of Mosasaur Lizard from marine environments of the Late Cretaceous. Mosasaurus (ˌmoʊzəˈsɔrəs ("lizard of the Meuse River " was a genus of Mosasaur, a carnivorous aquatic Lizard, somewhat resembling Prognathodon ('forejaw tooth' is an extinct genus of Marine reptile belonging to the Mosasaur family Globidens ("Globe teeth" is an Extinct Genus of Mosasaur Lizard. Plotosaurus ("swimmer lizard" is an extinct genus of Mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous ( Maastrichtian) of Fresno County California Carinodens is an Extinct Genus of Mosasaur, being approximately 3 Dallasaurus (Bell et Polcyn 2005 is a basal Mosasauroid from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. Halisaurus ("Ocean Lizard" is an extinct Genus of marine lizard belonging to the Mosasaur family Tylosaurus (Greek τυλος / tylos "protuberance knob" + Greek σαυρος / sauros "lizard" was a Platecarpus ("Flat wrist" is an extinct genus of Lizard belonging to the Mosasaur family Selmasaurus is a genus of medium-sized plioplatecarpine Mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk Formation ( Campanian) of western Alabama Plioplatecarpus is a genus of Mosasaur lizard Like all mosasaurs it lived in the late Cretaceous period about 83 Goronyosaurus nigeriensis was a species of Crocodile -like Mosasaur. Liodon is a Genus of Mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous. Remains assigned to this genus have been found in Africa, Asia Moanasaurus (From Māori moana "sea" and Greek sauros "lizard" meaning "Sea Lizard" was a genus of Pluridens walkeri was a species of Ichthyosaur -like Mosasaur. Eonatator is a Genus of halisaurine Mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and Europe. Hainosaurus (" Hain river lizard" is an extinct Genus of marine Lizard belonging to the Mosasaur family Russellosaurus (Polcyn et Bell 2005 is a basal Mosasauroid from the Upper Cretaceous of North America.

Description

Mosasaur skull Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a Museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's

Mosasaurs breathed air and were powerful swimmers that were well-adapted to living in the warm, shallow epicontinental seas prevalent during the Late Cretaceous Period. An epeiric sea (also known as an epicontinental sea) is a large but shallow body of salt water that lies over a part of a Continent. Mosasaurs were so well adapted to this environment that they gave birth to live young, rather than return to the shore to lay eggs, as sea turtles do. A viviparous Animal is an animal employing vivipary: the embryo develops inside the body of the mother as opposed to outside in an egg ( Ovipary Sea turtles ( Superfamily Chelonioidea) are Turtles found in all the world's oceans except the Arctic Ocean.

The smallest-known mosasaur was Carinodens belgicus, which was about 3. 0 to 3. 5 m long and probably lived in shallow waters near shore, cracking mollusks and sea urchins with its bulbous teeth. Molluscs are animals belonging to the phylum Mollusca. There are around 250000 extant Species within the phylum with an estimated 70000 Sea urchins are small globular spiny sea cat animals composing most of class Echinoidea. Larger mosasaurs were more typical: mosasaurs ranged in size up to 17 m. Hainosaurus holds the record for longest mosasaur, at 17. Hainosaurus (" Hain river lizard" is an extinct Genus of marine Lizard belonging to the Mosasaur family 5 m.

Mosasaurs had a body shape similar to that of modern-day monitor lizards (varanids), but were more elongated and streamlined for swimming. Their limb bones were reduced in length and their paddles were formed by webbing between their elongated digit-bones. Their tails were broad and supplied the locomotive power. This method of locomotion may have been similar to that used by the conger eel or sea snakes today. The animal may have lurked and pounced rapidly and powerfully on passing prey, rather than hunting for it.

Mosasaurs had a double-hinged jaw and flexible skull (much like that of a snake), which enabled them to gulp down their prey almost whole, a snakelike habit that has helped identify the unmasticated gut contents fossilized within mosasaur skeletons. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. A skeleton of Tylosaurus proriger from South Dakota included remains of the diving seabird Hesperornis, a marine bony fish, a possible shark and another, smaller mosasaur (Clidastes). Tylosaurus (Greek τυλος / tylos "protuberance knob" + Greek σαυρος / sauros "lizard" was a South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Seabirds are Birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment Hesperornis is an extinct Genus of flightless aquatic Birds that lived during the Santonian to Campanian sub-epochs of the Osteichthyes (ˌɒstiːˈɪkθiːz also called bony fish, are a taxonomic Class of Fish that includes the ray-finned fish ( Actinopterygii Sharks ( Superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of Fish with a full cartilaginous Skeleton and a highly streamlined body Mosasaur bones have also been found with shark teeth embedded in them.

Based on features such as the double row of pterygoid ("flanged") teeth on the palate, the double-hinged jaw, modified/reduced limbs and probable methods of locomotion, many researchers believe that snakes and mosasaurs may have had a common ancestor. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. This theory was first suggested in 1869, by Edward Drinker Cope, who coined the term "Pythonomorpha" to include them. Edward Drinker Cope (July 28 1840&ndashApril 12 1897 was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist The idea lay dormant for more than a century, before being revived in the 1990s. ^{[3] [4]}

Environment

Sea levels were high during the Cretaceous Period, causing marine transgressions in many parts of the world and a great inland seaway in what is now North America. The Western Interior Seaway, also called the Cretaceous Seaway, the Niobraran Sea, and the North American Inland Sea, was a huge inland Sea Mosasaur fossils have been found in the Netherlands, in Sweden, in Africa, in Australia, in New Zealand and on Vega Island, off the coast of Antarctica. FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Vega Island is a small island to the northwest of James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula In Canada and the United States, complete or partial specimens have been found in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia and in almost all the states covered by the seaway: Texas, southwest Arkansas, New Mexico, Kansas,^[5] Colorado, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana, and the Pierre Shale and Fox Hills formations of North Dakota^[6]. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Arkansas ( is a state located in the southern region of the United States. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and The Dakotas is a collective term used around the world that refers to the U Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern The Pierre Shale is a geologic formation or series of Upper Cretaceous age which occurs east of the Rocky Mountains from North Dakota to New Mexico North Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. Mosasaurs are also known from California, Mexico, Peru and Denmark. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe

Many of the 'dinosaur' remains found on New Zealand—a volcanic island arc that has never been part of a continent—are actually mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, another group of Mesozoic predatory marine reptiles. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the Plesiosaurs (ˈpliːziəˌsɔɹ ( Greek: plesios/πλησιος meaning 'near' or 'close to' and sauros/σαυρος meaning

Discovery

The Mosasaur discovered in a Maastricht limestone quarry, 1780 (contemporary engraving)

An early etching of a Mosasaurus. Maastricht ( Dutch; Limburgish and city dialect Mestreech; French: Maestricht or Maëstricht; Spanish: For other uses of etch or etching, see Etching (disambiguation, for the history of the method see Old master prints. Mosasaurus (ˌmoʊzəˈsɔrəs ("lizard of the Meuse River " was a genus of Mosasaur, a carnivorous aquatic Lizard, somewhat resembling

The first publicized discovery of a fossil mosasaur preceded any dinosaur fossil discoveries and drew the Age of Enlightenment's attention to the existence of fossilized animals; the specimen was discovered in 1780 by quarry-workers in a subterranean gallery of a limestone quarry; they quickly alerted Doctor C. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century K. Hoffman, a surgeon and fossil-hunter in the Dutch city of Maastricht, although rights of ownership lay with a canon of Maastricht cathedral, as owner of the overlying land. Maastricht ( Dutch; Limburgish and city dialect Mestreech; French: Maestricht or Maëstricht; Spanish:

Dr. Hoffman's correspondence among men of science made the find famous. When the Revolutionary forces occupied Maastricht, the carefully-hidden fossil was uncovered, betrayed, it is said, by a case of wine, and transported to Paris, where Georges Cuvier was able to describe it for science, although le grand animal fossile de Maastricht was not actually described as a Mosasaur ('Meuse reptile') until 1822 and not given its official name, Mosasaurus hoffmanni, until 1829. The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts from 1792 until 1802 fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier ( August 23 1769 &ndash May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist The Meuse (in Dutch and in German: "Maas" in Latin: "Mosa" in Celtic:"Mus" (the rootword presumingly Several sets of mosasaur remains, that had been discovered earlier at Maastricht but were not identified as mosasaurs until the nineteenth century, have been on display in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, since about 1770. The Teyler Museum (or Teyler's Museum Teylers Museum in Dutch located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. in the past usually Harlem in English is a city in the Netherlands.

The Maastricht limestone beds were rendered so famous by the Mosasaur discovery that they have given their name to the final six-million-year epoch of the Cretaceous, the Maastrichtian. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The Maastrichtian is the last stage of the Cretaceous period, and therefore of the Mesozoic era.

Evolutionary antecedents

Based on features such as the loosely-hinged jaw, modified/reduced limbs and probable locomotion, many researchers believe that snakes share a common marine ancestry with mosasaurs, a suggestion advanced in 1869, by Edward Drinker Cope, who coined the term "Pythonomorpha" to unite them. A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. Edward Drinker Cope (July 28 1840&ndashApril 12 1897 was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist The idea lay dormant for more than a century, to be revived in the 1990s. ^[3] Recently, the discovery of Najash rionegrina, a fossorial snake from South America cast doubt on the marine origin theory. Najash is an Extinct Genus of basal Snake. Like a number of other Cretaceous snakes (see below it had two hind-limbs

On 2005-11-16, research reported in Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, confirmed that the recently uncovered Dallasaurus turneri is an early link between land-based monitor lizards (such as the Komodo dragon) and the aquatic mosasaurs. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 534 - A second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published Monitor lizards are the family Varanidae, a group of carnivorous lizards which includes the largest living lizard the Komodo dragon. The Komodo dragon ( Varanus komodoensis) is a species of Lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili ^[7]

In popular culture

Mosasaurs appear in the BBC television series Sea Monsters. Sea Monsters was a BBC Television program which used Computer-generated imagery to show past life in Earth's seas Mosasaurs also feature heavily in the ITV television series Primeval. Primeval is a British Science fiction Television programme produced for ITV by Impossible Pictures. In this show, the mosasaurs are depicted incorrectly as having skin more similar to a crocodile's. A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae)

A highly evolved mosasaur appeared in an episode of Godzilla: The Series. Godzilla The Series is an Animated Television series which originally aired on Fox Kids. It was inhabiting Loch Ness as the legendary Loch Ness Monster. Loch Ness ( Scottish Gaelic: Loch Nis) is a large deep freshwater Loch in the Scottish Highlands ( extending for approximately 37 km (23 miles The Loch Ness Monster ( Nessiteras rhombopteryx) is an alleged animal family and upward Incertae sedis, purportedly inhabiting Scotland 's Loch Ness

The IMAX 3D film "Sea Monsters" features mosasaurs (including Tylosaurus) with detailed animated recreations of their movements and activities.

Alleged living mosasaurs

Although paleontologists have determined that all mosasaurs went extinct around the same time as the dinosaurs, and there is no fossil evidence of them beyond the end of the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), some cryptozoologists feel that sporadic reports of crocodile-like sea serpents may be surviving mosasaurs. Palaeontology redirects here For the Scientific journal, see Palaeontology (journal. Cryptozoology (from Greek κρυπτός kruptos, "hidden" + Zoology; literally "study of hidden animals" is the study of and search This article is about sea serpents in mythology and cryptozoology The Taniwha of Māori lore has also been connected to mosasaurs by journalists. Māori mythology, taniwha (ˈtaniɸa are beings that live in deep pools in rivers dark caves or in the sea especially in places with dangerous currents or deceptive breakers This article discusses the Māori people of New Zealand For their language see Māori language, and for other meanings see Māori (disambiguation. However, there is no scientific evidence of any mosasaur remains since the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago. Annum is one form of the Latin noun meaning Year, not a form normally used for derivatives in modern languages the accusative singular

Taxonomy

Taniwhasaurus. Taniwhasaurus was an Extinct Genus of Mosasaur, a carnivorous marine Reptile which inhabited New Zealand, Japan

Platecarpus. Platecarpus ("Flat wrist" is an extinct genus of Lizard belonging to the Mosasaur family

Clidastes. Clidastes is an extinct Genus of Mosasaur Lizard from marine environments of the Late Cretaceous.

Prognathodon. Prognathodon ('forejaw tooth' is an extinct genus of Marine reptile belonging to the Mosasaur family

• Family Mosasauridae
  • Subfamily Tylosaurinae
    • Hainosaurus
    • Tylosaurus
    • Taniwhasaurus
    • Lakumasaurus
  • Subfamily Plioplatecarpinae
    • Platecarpus
    • Angolasaurus
    • Ectenosaurus
    • Selmasaurus
    • Igdamanosaurus
    • Yaguarasaurus
    • Plioplatecarpus
  • Subfamily Mosasaurinae
    • Dallasaurus
    • Clidastes
    • Mosasaurus
    • Moanasaurus
    • Amphekepubis
    • Plotosaurus
    • Globidens
    • Prognathodon
    • Plesiotylosaurus
    • Carinodens
  • Subfamily Halisaurinae
    • Eonatator
    • Halisaurus

Incertae sedis

• Liodon
• Goronyosaurus
• Pluridens
• Kourisodon
• Russellosaurus
• Tethysaurus

References

External links

• Palaeos: Vertebrates: Mosasaurs
• BBC Science and Nature: Mosasaurs
• Mike Everhart and David Lewis, "Mesozoic marine monsters of the Mangahouanga": New Zealand fossil fauna
• Mike Everhart, "A day in the life of a Mosasaur": life in the Sea of Kansas, illus. by Carl Buell
• Mike Everhart, "Mosasaurus hoffmani" until 1829.
• Mosasaurus maximus mounted skeleton at University of Texas Memorial Museum
• Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
• "The Mosasaur of Maastricht" by Hennie Reuvers in Crossroads web magazine