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The smaller mosasaurs may have spent some time in fresh water, hunting for food. The largest mosasaur Mosasaurus hoffmannii was the apex predator of the Late Cretaceous oceans, reaching more than 11 metres (36 ft) in length and weighing up to 10 metric tons (11 short tons) in body mass. [14]
The belief that plesiosaurs are dinosaurs is a common misconception, and plesiosaurs are often erroneously depicted as dinosaurs in popular culture. [ 139 ] [ 140 ] It has been suggested that legends of sea serpents and modern sightings of supposed monsters in lakes or the sea could be explained by the survival of plesiosaurs into modern times.
Plesiosaurus was a moderately sized plesiosaur that grew to 2.87–3.5 m (9.4–11.5 ft) in length. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] There are approximately 40 cervical vertebrae (neck vertebrae), with different specimens preserving 38 to 42 cervical vertebrae. [ 15 ]
Elasmosaurus differed from all other plesiosaurs by having 72 neck vertebrae; more may have been present but were later lost to erosion or after excavation. Only Albertonectes had more neck vertebrae, 76, and the two are the only plesiosaurs with a count higher than 70; more than 60 vertebrae is very derived (or "advanced") for plesiosaurs. [15 ...
Mosasaurus fossils have been found in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Western Asia, and Antarctica. This distribution encompassed a wide range of oceanic climates including tropical, subtropical, temperate, and subpolar. Mosasaurus was a common large predator in these oceans and was positioned at the top of the food chain.
The specific placement of Mosasauria within the Squamata has been controversial since its inception, with early debate focusing on the classification of the mosasaurs. Cuvier was the first scientist to deeply analyze their possible taxonomic placement through Mosasaurus. While his original 1808 hypothesis that the genus was a lizard with ...
The subfamily is generally recognised as containing two subdivisions, the tribes Globidensini (Globidens and its closest relatives) and Mosasaurini (Mosasaurus and its closest relatives). A third tribe, the Prognathodontini ( Prognathodon and its closest relatives, such as Plesiotylosaurus ), is also used on occasion. [ 6 ] "
Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toothed jaws, commonly known as pliosaurs. More primitive non-thalassophonean pliosauroids resembled ...