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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 Mosasaurus hoffmannii skull found in Maastricht between 1770 and 1774. The first publicized discovery of a partial fossil mosasaur skull in 1764 by quarry workers in a subterranean gallery of a limestone quarry in Mount Saint Peter, near the Dutch city of Maastricht, preceded any major dinosaur fossil discoveries, but remained little known.
Instead, they primarily relied on stratigraphic associations and Cuvier's 1808 research on the holotype skull. Thus, in-depth research on the placement of Mosasaurus was not undertaken until the discovery of more complete mosasaur fossils during the late 19th century, which reignited research on the placement of mosasaurs among squamates. [8]
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 ] "
It could be the tooth of a mosasaur, a large, carnivorous aquatic reptile that thrived during the late Cretaceous Period, between 100 and 66 million years ago. Or perhaps you've stumbled over a ...
Mosasauroidea is a superfamily of extinct marine lizards that existed during the Late Cretaceous.Basal members of this group consist of small semiaquatic forms with terrestrial limbs ("plesiopedal"), while laters members include larger fully aquatic paddle-limbed ("hydropedal") forms commonly known as mosasaurs. [3]
Some mosasaurs measured just a few feet long, while the largest — in the genus Mosasaurus — was nearly 60 feet (18.2 meters) long, and while mosasaur fossils are relatively plentiful ...
The largest-known mosasaur is likely Mosasaurus hoffmanni, estimated at more than 17 m (56 ft) in length, [257] [258] however these estimations are based on heads and total body length ratio 1:10, which is unlikely for Mosasaurus, and probably that ratio is about 1:7. [259]