? Mosasaur Conservation status: Fossil
An etching of Mosasaur
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Order: Squamata Family: Mosasauridae Gervais, 1853
Subfamilies
Mosasaurinae Plioplatecarpinae Tylosaurinae

Mosasaurs (from Latin Mosa, the Meuse river where the fossils were first discovered + Greek sauros, lizard) were serpentine marine reptiles, more closely related to snakes than to monitor lizards (Lee 1997). Mosasaurs were not dinosaurs, being only distantly related. These predators evolved from terrestrial ancestors in the early Cretaceous and dominated the oceanic food chain during the late Cretaceous Period. Mosasaurs likely descended from varanid lizards. Public domain, retrieved from copyrightexpired. ... Etching is an intaglio method of printmaking in which the image is incised into the surface of a metal plate using an acid. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Binomial name Aptenodytes forsteri Gray, 1844 For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicatas Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Clades Subclass Anapsida Subclass Diapsida Infraclass Lepidosauromorpha Infraclass Archosauromorpha Sauropsida is an amniote clade that includes all recent and all or almost all extinct reptiles (excluding the Synapsida), and birds. ... Suborders Amphisbaenia - Worm lizards Sauria- Lizards Serpentes - Snakes Squamata (scaled reptiles) is the largest recent order of reptiles, including lizards and snakes. ... Paul Gervais (September 26, 1816 - February 10, 1879) was a French palaeontologist. ... ... Meuse near Grave The Meuse (Dutch Maas) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea. ... Orders See text. ... Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes (from Old English snaca, and ultimately from PIE base *snag- or *sneg-, to crawl), also known as ophidians, are cold blooded legless reptiles closely... Species Many, see text. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... The Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period, about 146 million years ago (Ma), to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65. ... Food chains and food webs or food networks describe the feeding relationships between species in a biotic community. ... The Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period, about 146 million years ago (Ma), to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65. ... Species Many, see text. ...

Genera include Clidastes, Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, Globidens, Plotosaurus, Plesiotylosaurus, Carinodens, Dallasaurus, Halisaurus, Tylosaurus, Platecarpus, Selmasaurus, Plioplatecarpus, Amphekepubis, Goronyosaurus, Liodon, Moanasaurus, Pluridens, Rikisaurus, and Yaguarasaurus. See genus (mathematics) for the use of the term in mathematics. ... Mosasaurus was a mosasaur - a carnivorous, aquatic reptile, somewhat resembling a crocodile, with elongated heavy jaws. ... Tylosaurus (meaning swollen lizard) was a mosasaur, a large, carnivorous marine reptile. ... Description Selmasaurus is a genus of medium-sized plioplatecarpine mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk Formation (Campanian) of western Alabama (United States). ...

Description

Mosasaurs breathed air, but were powerful swimmers well adapted to living in shallow sea. They gave birth to live young, rather than returning to the shore to lay eggs, as sea turtles do. Sunset at sea Look up Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Look up maritime in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Genera Caretta Lepidochelys Chelonia Eretmochelys Natator Sea turtles (Cheloniidae) are found in all the worlds oceans with the exception of the Arctic Ocean, and some species travel between oceans. ...

The smallest known mosasaur is Carinodens belgicus, which was about 3 to 3.5 m long and probably lived on the sea floor cracking mollusks and sea urchins with its bulbous teeth. Larger mosasaurs were more typical: mosasaurs ranged in size up to 17 m: Hainosaurus holds the record for longest mosasaur, at 17.5 m. To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between one metre and ten metres. ... Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Monoplacophora Bivalvia Scaphopoda Gastropoda Cephalopoda † Rostroconchia The molluscs or mollusks are the large and diverse phylum Mollusca, which includes a variety of familiar creatures well-known for their decorative shells or as seafood. ... Subclasses Euechinoidea Superorder Atelostomata Order Cassiduloida Order Spatangoida (heart urchins) Superorder Diadematacea Order Diadematoida Order Echinothurioida Order Pedinoida Superorder Echinacea Order Arbacioida Order Echinoida Order Phymosomatoida Order Salenioida Order Temnopleuroida Superorder Gnathostomata Order Clypeasteroida (sand dollars) Order Holectypoida Perischoechinoidea Order Cidaroida (pencil urchins) Group of black, long-spined Caribbean sea... Types of teeth Molars are used for grinding up foods Carnassials are used for slicing food. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10 m and 100 m. ...

Mosasaurs had a body form similar to that of modern-day monitor lizards (varanids), but more elongate and streamlined for fast swimming in marine waters. Their front leg bones were reduced in length, and their paddles were formed by long finger-bones. Their rear legs were atrophied.

Mosasaurs had a loosely-hinged jaw which enabled them to swallow their prey almost whole, a snakelike feature that has helped identify the stomach contents fossilized within a Mosasaur skeleton, which included the diving seabird Hesperornis, a marine bony fish, a shark, and part of a smaller mosasaur. Mosasaur bones have been found with embedded shark teeth. Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes (from Old English snaca, and ultimately from PIE base *snag- or *sneg-, to crawl), also known as ophidians, are cold blooded legless reptiles closely... Seabirds are birds that spend much of their lives, outside the breeding season at least, at sea. ... Families Hesperornithidae Hesperornithiformes are an extinct and highly specialized order of Cretaceous toothed birds. ... Subclasses Actinopterygii Sarcopterygii Osteichthyes are the bony fish, a group paraphyletic to the land vertebrates, which are sometimes included. ... Orders Hexanchiformes Squaliformes Pristiophoriformes Squatiniformes Heterodontiformes Orectolobiformes Carcharhiniformes Lamniformes Sharks are a group (superorder Selachimorpha) of fish, with a full cartilaginous skeleton, a streamlined body plan, with normally 5, but up to 7 (depending on species) gill slits along the side of, or beginning slightly behind, the head (in some...

Based on features such as the loosely-hinged jaw, modified/reduced limbs and probable locomation, many researchers believe that snakes may be descended from mosasaurs, a suggestion advanced in 1869, by Edward Drinker Cope, who coined the term "Pythonomorpha" to include them. The idea lay dormant for more than a century, to be revived in the 1990s [1]. Families Acrochordidae Aniliidae Anomalepididae Anomochilidae Atractaspididae Boidae Bolyeriidae Colubridae Cylindrophiidae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Leptotyphlopidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Typhlopidae Uropeltidae Viperidae Xenopeltidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ... Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840–April 12, 1897) was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist. ...

Environment

Sea-levels were high during the Cretaceous, causing marine ingressions in many parts of the world, and a great inland seaway in North America. Mosasaur fossils have been found in the Netherlands and Sweden, in Africa, in Australia, New Zealand, and Vega Island off the coast of Antarctica. 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, Colorado, the Dakotas and Montana. The Western Interior Seaway, also called the Cretaceous Seaway and the North American Inland Sea, was a huge inland sea that split the continent of North America into two halves during most of the early and mid-Cretaceous period. ... A fossil Ammonite Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally having been dug up) are the mineralized or otherwise preserved remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ... Vega Island is a small island to the northwest of James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Penninsula. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 30th 135,775 km² 306 km 531 km 3. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 32nd 46,914 km² 275 km 545 km 3 30°13N to 35°N 88°7W to 91°41W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 31st 2,697,243 23. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 36th 109,247 km² 195 km 710 km 2. ... Official language(s) None. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 29th 137 732 km² 385 km 420 km 2. ... Official language(s) None, English, Spanish popularly believed to be official, but they are not. ... Official language(s) None Capital Topeka Largest city Wichita Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 15th 82,277 mi²; 213,096 km² 211 mi; 340 km 400 mi; 645 km 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 8th 269 837 km² 451 km 612 km 0. ... The Dakotas is a collective term used in the United States to refer to the states of North and South Dakota together. ... Official language(s) English Capital Helena Largest city Billings Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 4th 381,156 km² 410 km 1,015 km 1 44°26 N to 49° N 104°2 W to 116°2 W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 44th 902,195 2. ...

The "dinosaurs" of New Zealand, a volcanic island arc that has never been part of a continent, are a unique series of mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, another group of predatory marine reptiles of the Mesozoic era. This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... Families Cryptoclididae Elasmosauridae Plesiosauridae Pliosauridae Plesiosaurs (IPA ) (Greek: plesios, near to + sauros, lizard) were large, carnivorous aquatic reptiles. ... The Mesozoic is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. ...

Discovery

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

The first publicized discovery of a fossil mosasaur preceded any dinosaur fossil discoveries, and drew the Enlightenment's attention to the existence of fossilized animals; the specimen was discovered in 1780 by quarry-workers in a subterranean gallery who quickly alerted Doctor C. K. Hoffman, a surgeon and fossil-hunter in the Dutch city of Maastricht, though rights of ownership lay with a canon of Maastricht, as owner of the overlying land. Download high resolution version (1010x506, 172 KB)Discovery of the first Mosasaur (Mosasaurus hoffmani), at Maastricht, engraving by G. R. Levillaire The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life... Download high resolution version (1010x506, 172 KB)Discovery of the first Mosasaur (Mosasaurus hoffmani), at Maastricht, engraving by G. R. Levillaire The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life... Maastricht (Limburgish and city dialect: Mestreech; French: Maestricht) is a municipality, and capital of the province of Limburg. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. ... Maastricht (Limburgish and city dialect: Mestreech; French: Maestricht) is a municipality, and capital of the province of Limburg. ...

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, though le grand animal fossile de Maastricht was not described as a Mosasaur ("Meuse reptile") until 1822, and not given its official name, Mosasaurus hoffmani, until 1829. A Mosasaur skull that had actually been discovered at Maastricht earlier, has recently been reidentified in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem. Georges Cuvier Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (August 23, 1769 - May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist and zoologist. ... Meuse near Grave The Meuse (Dutch Maas) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea. ... Categories: Stub | Haarlem | Museums in the Netherlands | Natural history museums ... Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, capital of the North Holland province. ...

The Maastricht limestone beds were rendered so famous they have given their name to the ultimate 6-million-year epoch of the Cretaceous: the Maastrichtian. The Maastrichtian is the last age of the Cretaceous period, and therefore of the Mesozoic era. ...

On 2005-11-16, research in Netherlands Journal of Geosciences confirmed that the recently uncovered Dallasaurus turneri is an early link between land-based, komodo dragon-like varanid lizards and the aquatic mosasaurs [2]
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... Species Many, see text. ...

Purported modern sightings

Although it is generally accepted that Mosasaurs went extinct around the same time as the dinosaurs, some Cryptozoologists feel that sporadic reports of crocodile-like sea serpents may be surviving Mosasaurs. The Taniwha of Māori lore has also been connected to Mosasaurs by journalists. Orders Saurischia    Sauropodomorpha    Theropoda Ornithischia Dinosaurs are giant reptiles that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for most of their 165-million year existence. ... Cryptozoology is the study of rumored or mythological animals that are presumed to exist, but for which conclusive proof does not yet exist; or are generally considered extinct, but occasionally reported. ... Sea serpents are a kind of sea monster either wholly or partly serpentine. ... A Taniwha (IPA: ) is a legendary monster said by the Māori to live in the ocean and inland waters of New Zealand, hiding in deep pools, rivers, lakes, and dark caves. ... For the Māori language, see Māori language. ...

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

References

• Lee, 1997, "The phylogeny of varanoid lizards and the affinities of snakes," in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 352: 53-91.

• Everhart, M.J. 2005. "Enter the Mosasaurs," Chapter 9 in "Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea." Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 322 p.