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Mosasaurus was a common large predator in these oceans and was positioned at the top of the food chain. Paleontologists believe its diet would have included virtually any animal; it likely preyed on bony fish, sharks, cephalopods, birds, and other marine reptiles including sea turtles and other mosasaurs. It likely preferred to hunt in open ...
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]
A mega-sauropod, Maraapunisaurus fragillimus (previously known as Amphicoelias fragillimus), is a contender for the largest-known dinosaur in history. It has been estimated at 58–60 m (190–197 ft) in maximum length and 122,400 kg (269,800 lb) in weight. [408] Unfortunately, the fossil remains of this dinosaur have been lost. [408]
The team initially suspected the specimen to be the oldest known Mosasaurus, but further preparation uncovered features indicating a new intermediate genus and species between Mosasaurus and the more primitive Clidastes. [1] The study, published in 2023, named the species Jormungandr walhallaensis.
Life restoration of the mosasaur Hainosaurus feeding on a cephalopod. This timeline of mosasaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of mosasaurs, a group of giant marine lizards that lived during the Late Cretaceous Epoch. Although mosasaurs went ...
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 ] "
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]