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Mosasaurus (/ ˌ m oʊ z ə ˈ s ɔːr ə s /; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles.It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous.
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 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 ...
They ranged in size from some of the smallest known mosasaurs (Carinodens, 3–3.5 meters), to medium-sized taxa (Clidastes, 6+ meters), to the largest of the mosasaurs (Mosasaurus hoffmannii) potentially reaching about 13 m in length.
Dolichosauridae (from Latin, dolichos = "long" and Greek sauros= lizard) is a family of Cretaceous aquatic lizards. They are widely considered to be the earliest and most primitive members of Mosasauria , though some researchers have recovered them as more closely related to snakes.
Moanasaurus (From Māori moana "sea" and Greek sauros "lizard"; meaning "Sea Lizard") was a genus of mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossil remains have been discovered in the North Island of New Zealand. Moanasaurus was a very large mosasaurine known originally from a disarticulated skull, vertebrae, ribs and flipper bones.
Yaguarasaurines were primitive and comparatively small to medium-sized mosasaurs that lived during the earlier stages of mosasaur evolutionary history. Yaguarasaurus columbianus itself is the largest species of the subfamily, with the largest known skeleton at a length of 5 metres and a massive isolated skull indicating larger sizes.
Prognathodon constitutes one of the largest-bodied mosasaur genera, with the largest known skull (belonging to P. currii) exceeding 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) in length. Despite its massive size, remains of the genus are often fragmentary and incomplete. To date, very few specimens are known with articulated skulls and none with an entire skeleton. [2]