Mosasaurus

The Mosasaurus

The Mosasasaurus was a large apex predator to the marine life of the cretaceous period around 7- million years ago. They were over 50 feet in length, they had the perfect shape in order to cut through water seamlessly. Their limbs were paddle like fins to help them swim easier, with a tail that was similar to a shark. Their double hinged jaws made it easy to swallow their food whole with no issues. The mosasaurus was covered in scales all over their body for protection from the enemies that they had. They were the Apex predator in the cretaceous period,meaning they were at the top of the food chain and had no predators of their own.

The Mosasaurus closest relatives

The closest relatives to the mosasaurus are monitor lizards, snakes, and Kimono dragons. Though this is only known with the current scientific research that we have on the mosasaurus. Due to changing research this could change in the future but to our knowledge these are the current closest living relatives. They are not direct descendants of the mosasaurus as these creatures are all terrestrial and the mosasaurus was a marine creature. With changing research in the scientific studies there will always be changes as we find more animals to study and more fossils of the mosasaurus as well.

Biggest Mosasaurus Fossil

The current known biggest fossil is a type of Mosasaurus known as a Tylosaurus Pembinensis. The largest fossil in museums is known as Bruce and though these types of dinosaurs are a type of mosasaurus doest mean it will forever be the biggest fossil. There may still be more fossils under the ocean that are still yet to be discovered by scientists. Bruce, the fossil, is only the biggest complete fossil that we have found. He was discovered to the north of Thornhill in volcanic ash. It is noted that Bruce has between 65%-70% of the original bones. He measures 43 feet (13.3 meters) in length.

Extinction of the Mosasaurs

The mosasaurus went extinct around 70 million years ago during the K-PG event. This asteroid caused a lot of damage and started wildfires, tsunamis, and prolonged periods of darkness and coldness. Thus throwing off the food chain and causing the mosasaurus’ as well as millions of other dinosaurs to go extinct during this period. The K-PG caused the whole marine ecosystem to collapse.

Cool Facts

Did you know that the mosasaurus actually isn’t classified as a dinosaur but instead it is known as a Marine reptile. They aren’t considered dinosaurs due to a lot of reasons. One being the habitat in which they are in, the mosasaurus was an aquatic creature, unlike dinosaurs. Most dinosaurs were land dwelling. Though habitat isn't the only reason they aren't classified as dinosaurs, mosasaurus and dinosaurs have different limb and hip structures. While dinosaurs had legs positioned underneath their bodies, the mosasaurus had flipper-like limbs to help them swim. The mosasaurus didn't need legs due to being an aquatic creature. As for the hip structure, dinosaurs had hips and the mosasaurus lacked this specific part of their bone structure as they didn’t need it to survive.