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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]
A mosasaur with an almost crocodilian-like head and was one of the few kinds to live in freshwater. It lived in rivers and hunted both aquatic and terrestrial animals in the area. †Hainosaurus †Hainosaurus bernardi ; 70.6–66 Ma Sweden A tylosaurine mosasaur that had more vertebrae in the neck and tail than its Tylosaurus cousin. It is one ...
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 ...
Bell proposed that the Mosasaurini should be abandoned and that all members of the tribe should be incorporated into the Plotosaurini. While other scientists agree that a tribe containing Mosasaurus should be monophyletic, they argue that Mosasaurini should be the valid tribe. For example, in a 2012 study, Aaron LeBlanc, Caldwell, and Bardet ...
It was an apex predator in its ecosystem and preyed on a large variety of marine animals including mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, sharks and other large fish, pterosaurs, and occasionally dinosaurs. Cretoxyrhina was also among the fastest-swimming sharks, with hydrodynamic calculations suggesting burst speeds of up to 70 km/h.
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.
A Unique Sacroiliac Contact in Mosasaurs (Sauria, Varanoidea, Mosasauridae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 6, 2, 197–199. Kiernan, C. R. (January 1, 2002). Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries.