60 Unknown Facts About Mosasaurus Dinosaur

Facts About Mosasaurus: Mosasaurus ("Mosa river lizard") is an extinct genus of mosasaurid sauropsid that lived during the Maastrichtian in the Cretaceous period, between 70-66 million years ago in the area of present-day Western Europe, North America, South America and Antarctica. Its name refers to the fact that the first specimen was found near the Meuse River (a European river on the North Sea slope). The genus Capelliniosuchus, once considered to be a metriorhynchid crocodyliform, is a more modern synonym of Mosasaurus.

Unknown Facts About Mosasaurus Dinosaur

The Mosasaurus is a member of the Mosasauridae family.
The name Mosasaurus means: “Lizard of the Meuse River”.
The name Mosasaurus is pronounced: “MOE-zah-SORE-usis”.
The Mosasaurus is estimated to have been one of the largest mosasaurids.
The Mosasaurus was discovered in 1764, by lieutenant Jean Baptiste Drouin.
The Mosasaurus was part of a group of Mosasaurs known as aquatic squamates.
The length of the Mosasaurus was greater then the fearsome Tyrannosaur rex.
The largest discovered specimen of Mosasaurus had a length of up to 56 feet.
The Mosasaurus is estimated to have been one of the last of the mosasaurids.
The double-hinged jaw of the Mosasaurus would allow it to swallow its prey whole.
The Mosasaurus got its scientific name Mosasaurus hoffmanni in 1829, by Gideon Mantell.
The Mosasaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous Period between 66 and 70 million years ago.
The holotype skeleton for the Mosasaurus hoffmanni is MNHNP AC9648, which is just a skull.
The Mosasaurus could be found in oceans around the globe during the Late Cretaceous Period.
Mosasaurs were closely related to monitor lizards and alligators, which are still alive today.
Paleontologists think the Mosasaurus had live births, just like whales, instead of laying eggs.
The teeth of a Mosasaurus were shaped like sharp spikes, allowing them grip and hold onto their prey.

Awesome Facts About Mosasaurus Dinosaur

Mosasaurus has between 40 to 50 sharp, cone-shaped teeth that were perfect for grabbing and holding prey.
Dinosaur names can be hard to say. The word ‘Mosasaurus’ has 4 syllables and you pronounce it like this as moss-a-saw-rus
Scientists research has shown that the Mosasaurus lived close to the top of the water, it is unlikely it dived deep to hunt.
The Mosasaurus spent most of its time near the ocean surface, much like modern whales do, since they breathed air in a similar fashion.
The mosasaurus had a short, wide body and a long, thin tail. It was a powerful swimmer and could hold its breath for extended periods of time.
Mosasaurus was very widespread. fossil remains have been found all over the world including in: Africa, europe, North America, South America and even Antarctica!
It’s estimated that the Mosasaurus lived in the waters around North America and western Europe. It’s possible they also lived in the waters around Japan and New Zealand.
The Mosasaurus was a carnivorous aquatic hunter, and their prey was most likely fish, marine reptiles, birds, pterosaurs, smaller mosasaurs and maybe even land dinosaurs.
Mosasaurus loved to eat Ammonites it seems. Many shells of this large mollusc have been found with bite marks on both sides! Ammonites are another fossil that are pretty cheap to collect as well.
Once they got older they were the apex predator of their time. An Apex predator is a predator that is top of the food chain, where nothing else eats it. Like lions and Orca (Killer Whales) today.
The Mosasaurus was certainly big, however the estimates vary from 36 feet to 59 feet long. The have measured this by estimating that the body of the mosasaurus was 7-10 times longer than the skulls they have found.

Interesting Facts About Mosasaurus Dinosaur

The mosasaurus had a hinged lower jaw, which allowed it to open its mouth very wide. This made it an effective predator and scavenger.Its teeth were conical and serrated, perfect for seizing and slicing through prey.
Mosasaurs had a hinged lower jaw, which allowed them to open their mouth very wide, this was by design as most prey would have been swallowed whole, or ripped and shook into pieces that were able to be swallowed whole.
Mosasaurus had plenty of teeth in it long mouth but they were not quite as large as other large carnivorous dinosaurs on lange. On average they were about 2-3 inches long, and the a large tooth would be over 4 inches long.
The mosasaurus was alive during the Late Cretaceous period, around 88 to 65 million years ago, swimming in the oceans. It seems it was quite widespread, as fossils have been discovered in multiple locations around the world.
There are quite a few different species of Mosasaur, some were just 3 feet long (1 metre) and others are estimated to be up to 59 feet long! (almost 20 metres) The mosasaurus was the largest and most advanced member of this family.
The mosasaurus in Jurassic world had a lot of dramatic license added to it. When we first see it its mouth is longer than a great white shark, which can be 5-6 meters long. this would make the mosausus up to 60 metres in the movie.
The name Mosasaurus, means “Lizard of the Meuse River”. Mosa means meuse in latin, and saurus means lizard in greek. the fossils of the mosasaurus were first found next to this river in the Netherlands in a limestone quarry in 1764.
The largest of the mosasaurus could possibly weigh upwards of 28,000 lbs (14,000kg) according to wikipedia. However, scientists are still unsure of exactly how “bulky” a mosasaurus was and most data relates to their length not weight.
The mosasaurus would have been an opportunistic predator, and remains of sea birds, fish, marine reptiles, other mosasaurus, ammonites and almost anything else that swims or wandered near water has been found in its fossilized stomachs.
As they had so many teeth, and they were very wide spread around the world it is one of the more accessible fossils people can collect. They can be bought for just a few dollars for the small ones. You can check out some on the link below.
As they are no fossils of Mosasaurs found more recently than 65 million years ago, which scientists suggest means this large predator was caught up with the aftermath of the Asteroid Impact that caused the extinction of most land based life.
It is believed that the mosasaurus gave birth to live young, rather than laying eggs. They were very adapted to ocean life so the general thought is, even though they breathed air, they didn’t go on to beaches and lay eggs like turtles do now.
Even though Mosasaurus breathed air and was potentially similar to monitor lizards (or snakes) it was not able to move on land. its limbs had evolved into flippers and would not have been able to get around outside of water using them…. thankfully!
The first mosasaurus fossils were discovered in 1764. That makes this one of the early dinosaurs to be discovered. The fossils were found in Maastricht in the Netherlands. At the time people thought it was maybe a crocodile, a large lizard or even a whale.
The mosasaurus in Jurassic world was really much larger than they would have been in real life, and there is little chance it would have been big enough to pull in a dinosaur larger than a T-Rex into the lagoon. However, it was an awesome ending to the indominus Rex.
The Mosasaurus may have been first discovered in 1764 ( when it must have looked like a huge sea monster) It didnt get its name, or be classified officially until almost 60 years later when in 1822 William Daniel Conybeare gave it the name Mosasaurus which as we explained above, is because it was discovered near the Meuse river in the Netherlands.

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