Plotosaurini paleogeographic occurrences", "Hermann Schlegel's investigation of the Maastricht mosasaurs". hoffmannii. Adding to its offensive line-up are a line of 40-50 teeth measuring some 25-30mm in length. Mosasaurus also has large haemal arches located at the bottom of each caudal vertebra which bend near the middle of the tail, which contrasts with the reduction of haemal arches in other marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs. [11][42] The cutting edges of Mosasaurus differ by species. As a result, more than fifty different species have been attributed to the genus in the past. [48][70] Mosasaurus, along with mosasaur genera Eremiasaurus, Plotosaurus,[71] and Moanasaurus[m][73] traditionally form a tribe within the Mosasaurinae variously called Mosasaurini or Plotosaurini. The magnus adductor muscles, which attach to the lower jaws to the cranium and have a major role in biting function, are massive, indicating M. hoffmannii was capable of enormous bite forces. [n][o][38] However, Russell used an early method of phylogenetics and did not use cladistics. In a 1798 narrative of this event by Barthlemy Faujas de Saint-Fond, the skull was allegedly retrieved by twelve grenadiers in exchange for an offer of 600 bottles of wine. "[14] In a 1822 work by James Parkinson, William Daniel Conybeare coined the genus Mosasaurus from the Latin Mosa "Meuse" and the Ancient Greek (saros, "lizard"), all literally meaning "lizard of the Meuse", in reference to the river where the holotype specimen was discovered nearby. In 1808, naturalist Georges Cuvier concluded that it belonged to a giant marine lizard with similarities to monitor lizards but otherwise unlike any known living animal. Fossil evidence suggests Mosasaurus inhabited much of the Atlantic Ocean and the seaways adjacent to it. [125], Known fossils of Mosasaurus have typically been recovered from deposits representing nearshore habitats during the Cretaceous period, with some fossils coming from deeper-water deposits. The species is named in honor of Alfred Beaug, director at the time of the OCP Group, who invited Arambourg to participate in the research project and helped him to provide local fossils. [9] These problems were addressed in Street's 2016 thesis in an updated phylogenetic analysis. [50] As a result, the rear portions of the maxilla (the main tooth-bearing bone of the upper jaw) lack the dorsal concavity that would fit the nostrils in typical mosasaurs. [61], Currently, there is only one known example of a Mosasaurus preserved with stomach contents: a well-preserved partial skeleton of a small M. missouriensis dated about 75 million years old with dismembered and punctured remains of a 1 meter (3.3ft) long fish in its gut. [54], M. missouriensis and M. lemonnieri are smaller than M. hoffmannii but are known from more complete fossils. [128], By the end of the Cretaceous, mosasaurs were at the height of their evolutionary radiation, and their extinction was a sudden event. [96], It is likely that Mosasaurus was viviparous (giving live birth) like most modern mammals today. Some studies such as Madzia & Cau (2017) also recover, The 2018 MS thesis of Cyrus Green disputes the notion that, Two of the 15 surveyed fossils were reported from the, A dubious taxon that may represent various mosasaurs such as, National Museum of Natural History, France, collection of sculptures of prehistoric animals, Research history of Mosasaurus History of taxonomy, Mosasaur Relation with snakes or monitor lizards, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "Recent mosasaur discoveries from New Jersey and Delaware, USA: stratigraphy, taphonomy and implications for mosasaur extinction", "Paleoecology of the Delaware Valley region, Part II: Cretaceous to Quaternary", "A mosasaur from the Maastrichtian Fox Hills Formation of the northern Western Interior Seaway of the United States and the synonymy of, "Of German princes and North American rivers: Harlan's lost mosasaur snout rediscovered", "Datum vondst mosasaurus ontdekt: in oktober 1778", "Conjectures relative to the petrifactions found in St. Peter's Mountain near Maestricht", "A Tabular Arrangement of the Organic Remains of the County of Sussex", Transactions of the Geological Society of London, "On the Remains of Extinct Reptiles of the genera, "Mosasauridae Translation and Pronunciation Guide", "Mmoire sur quelques parties moins connues du squelette des sauriens fossiles de Maestricht", "Premire note sur les Mosasauriens de Mesvin", "A new Plotosaurini mosasaur skull from the upper Maastrichtian of Antarctica. [11] In 2004, Eric Mulder, Dirk Cornelissen, and Louis Verding suggested M. lemonnieri could be a juvenile form of M. hoffmannii based on the argument that significant differences could be explained by age-based variation. [102] Many types of sharks such as Squalicorax, Cretalamna, Serratolamna, and sand sharks,[105] as well as bony fish such as Cimolichthys, the saber-toothed herring Enchodus, and the swordfish-like Protosphyraena are represented in the northern Tethyan margin. Mosasaurus probably had a strong bite force due to eating prey like giant turtles in its time. How much bite force does a hyena have? A 2017 study by Hallie Street and Michael Caldwell performed the first proper diagnosis and description of the M. hoffmannii holotype, which allowed a major taxonomic cleanup confirming five species as likely validM. This indicates that both Mosasaurus species may have either been habitual deep-divers or repetitive divers. [74], In 1997, Bell published the first cladistical study of North American mosasaurs. [11] The disparity is also reflected in the dentary, the lower jawbone,[36] although all species share a long and straight dentary. They belong to the order Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes . This level of bone infection would have been tremendously painful and severely hampered the mosasaur's ability to use its jaws. Extensive amounts of bone reparative tissue were also present, suggesting the infection and subsequent healing process may have progressed for a few months. At the time, it was not believed that a species could go extinct, and fossils of animals were often interpreted as some form of an extant species. This result indicated that M. hoffmannii and M. lemonnieri are not in the same genus. [58][90] In 2006, Schulp and colleagues speculated that Mosasaurus may have occasionally engaged in cannibalism as a result of intraspecific aggression. [88], Carbon isotope studies on fossils of multiple M. hoffmannii individuals have found extremely low values of 13C, the lowest in all mosasaurs for the largest individuals. conodon. ive heard that they do then ive heard that their jaws are to small for a bite force greater than the tyrant king. Watch out for its bite, as it has a force of 275,000 kPa (40,000 psi). [99][97] Some areas in Europe and South Dakota have yielded concentrated assemblages of juvenile M. hoffmannii, M. missouriensis and/or M. lemonnieri. These environments were dominated by mosasaurs and marine side-necked turtles. As a result, some paleontologists caution that lower-order classification results from Conrad's 2008 study such as the specific placement of Mosasaurus may contain technical problems, making them inaccurate. [50][61] Fauna likely preyed upon by the genus include bony fish, sharks, cephalopods, birds, and marine reptiles such as other mosasaurs[61] and turtles. [95], Unnatural fusion of tail vertebrae has been documented in Mosasaurus, which occurs when the bones remodel themselves after damage from trauma or disease. [50] The species likely hunted near the ocean surface as an ambush predator, using its large two-dimensionally adapted eyes to more effectively spot and capture prey. [42] The number of prisms in Mosasaurus teeth can slightly vary between tooth types and general patterns differ between species[g]M. Mosasaurus (/mozsrs/; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. [102][103][104] The wide range of oceanic climates yielded a large diversity of fauna that coexisted with Mosasaurus. [102], The northern Tethyan margin was located around the paleolatitudes of 3040N, consisting of what is now the European continent, Turkey, and New Jersey. Dollo names the species in his honor. 15. r/Paleontology. Both of these dinosaurs have extremely powerful jaws and rows and rows of sharp teeth, though the bite force of the mosasaurus is more powerful than the bite force of the liopleurodon. These localities are all shallow ocean deposits, suggesting that juvenile Mosasaurus may still have lived in shallow waters.[100]. Two examples include IRSNB R25 and IRSNB R27, both having fractures and other pathologies in their dentaries. It would have had a stronger bite than something like a Spinosaur, but it's bite force was notably inferior to a similarly sized Tyr. [16][43], One of the earliest depictions of Mosasaurus in paleoart is a life-size concrete sculpture created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins[44] between 1852 and 1854[45] as part of the collection of sculptures of prehistoric animals on display at the Crystal Palace Park in London. Just one search in the . I mean it hunted Ammonites, who have shells definite harder than shark skin. Of the mosasaurs, Globidens phosphaticus is the characteristic species of the southern province; in the African and Arabian domain, Halisaurus arambourgi and 'Platecarpus ptychodon'[r][102] were also common mosasaurs alongside Globidens. As the proposal remains restricted to a PhD thesis, it is defined as an unpublished work per Article 8 of the ICZN and therefore is not yet formally valid. [11][42][61][62] Mosasaurus teeth are large and robust except for those in M. conodon and M. lemonnieri, which instead have more slender teeth. The modern-day animal kingdom's strongest bite force comes by way of the crocodile, which can exhibit anywhere from 3,700-5,000 PSI of bite force depending on the species. In recent studies, the confirmation of paleogeographical affinities extended this range to areas across the Atlantic including Brazil and the East Coast state of New Jersey. The margin provided a warm-temperate climate with habitats dominated by mosasaurs and sea turtles. [131], M. hoffmannii fossils have been found within the K-Pg boundary itself in southeastern Missouri between the Paleocene Clayton Formation and Cretaceous Owl Creek Formation. (2017). [5][50] In M. hoffmannii, this snout is blunt,[5] while in M. lemonnieri it is pointed. Cuvier did not designate a scientific name for the new animal, and this was done by William Daniel Conybeare in 1822 when he named it Mosasaurus in reference to its origin in fossil deposits near the Meuse River. [7][36] Despite being the best anatomically represented species, M. lemonnieri was largely ignored in scientific literature. [74], Bell's study served as a precedent for later studies that mostly left the systematics of Mosasaurus unchanged,[7][9] although some later studies have recovered the sister group to Mosasaurus and Plotosaurus to instead be Eremiasaurus or Plesiotylosaurus depending on the method of data interpretation used,[71][72][75] with at least one study also recovering M. missouriensis to be the most basal species of the genus instead of M. 189K views 1 year ago #Mosasaurus #Megalodon #VS If these ancient aquatic animals fought today, who would win? In addition, they exclusively feature M. conodon, Halisaurus platyspondylus and Prognathodon rapax. Mosasaurus was among the largest marine animals of its time,[50] and with its large, robust cutting teeth, scientists believe larger members of the genus would have been able to handle virtually any animal. M. lemmonieri had the most vertebrae in the genus, with up to around forty dorsal vertebrae, twenty-two pygal vertebrae, and ninety caudal vertebrae. [38][55] He also measured the dimensions of IRSNB 3119 and recorded that the skull constituted approximately one-eleventh of the whole body. The fracture is covered with a nonunion formation of bony callus with shallow scratch marks and a large pit connected to an abscess canal. Lingham-Soliar described this pit as resembling a tooth mark from a possible attacking mosasaur. [37] In 1967, Dale Russell argued that M. lemonnieri and M. conodon are the same species and designated the former as a junior synonym per the principle of priority. The study also held four additional species from Pacific depositsM. [129] Any Mosasaurus surviving the immediate cataclysms by taking refuge in deeper waters would have died out due to starvation from a loss of prey. [50] The quadrate bone, which connected the lower jaw to the rest of the skull and formed the jaw joint, is tall and somewhat rectangular in shape, differing from the rounder quadrates found in typical mosasaurs. Analysis of the tooth marks by a 2014 study by Kauffman concluded that the mosasaurs were either Mosasaurus or Platecarpus. It was hypothesized that these adaptations helped maintain resource partitioning between the two mosasaurs. This creates a rigid three-pivot geometric cranial structure. Second, the species was overshadowed by the more famous and history-rich type species. The teeth of P. saturator are much more robust than those of M. hoffmannii and were specifically equipped for preying on robust prey like turtles. The region was shallow for a seaway, reaching a maximum depth of about 800900 meters (2,6003,000ft). [36], M. lemonnieri is a controversial taxon, and there is debate on whether it is a distinct species or not. [10] In M. missouriensis, the bar is robust and does not constrict. This fish was much longer than the length of the mosasaur's skull, which measured 66 centimeters (26in) in length, confirming that M. missouriensis consumed prey larger than its head by dismembering and consuming bits at a time. [14][18], After its seizure, the second skull was sent to the National Museum of Natural History, France in 1795 and later cataloged as MNHN AC 9648. [38] In a 2000 study, Lingham-Soliar refuted this based on a comprehensive study of existing M. lemonnieri specimens,[36] which was corroborated by a study on the M. conodon skull by Takehito Ikejiri and Spencer G. Lucas in 2014. [12] This specimen, cataloged as TM 7424, is now on display at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem. Mosasaurus is a genus of large aquatic carnivorous lizard from the Late Cretaceous about 70-66 million years ago. Megalodon does have thick skin, but the truth is Mosasaurus teeth are designed to bite through shark skin. While M. hoffmannii also preyed on turtles, its teeth were built to handle a wider range of prey less suited for P. Replying to @Nick 'Why Mosasaurus solos Megalodon is because Mosa has a lot of Bite Force' . In fighting likely took place in the form of snout grappling, similarly seen in modern crocodiles today. Scale bar is 50 mm in B and 20 mm in D. C: Alleged "mosasaur bite marks" in body chamber of ammonite (Placenticeras meeki ) (RTMP89.42.36), Bearpaw Formation, Late Cretaceous, St. Mary River . [11] The ilium is rod-like and slender; in M. missouriensis, it is around 1.5 times longer than the femur. [22], The third species was described in 1881 from fragmentary fossils in New Jersey by Edward Drinker Cope, who thought it was a giant species of Clidastes and named it Clidastes conodon. [52] Mentioning the Penza specimen, Gregory S. Paul estimated in his 2022 book, The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles, a shorter maximum length for M. hoffmannii of 13 meters (43ft) and a body mass of 5.5 metric tons (6.1 short tons). The models suggest that an adult T. rex was capable of a maximum bite force of 35,000 to . 241. They were described by Dollo in later papers. mokoroa, M. hobetsuensis, M. flemingi, and M. prismaticusto be possibly valid, pending a future formal reassessment. The size of their jaws would have made them predators of smaller sea animals than the megalodon. ; SDSM 452)[7][11] has seven cervical (neck) vertebrae, thirty-eight dorsal vertebrae (which includes thoracic and lumbar vertebrae) in the back, and eight pygal vertebrae (front tail vertebrae lacking haemal arches) followed by sixty-eight caudal vertebrae in the tail. [50], In modern lizards, the mechanical build of the skull is characterized by a four-pivot geometric structure in the cranium that allows flexible movement of the jaws, possibly to allow the animals to better position them and prevent prey escape when hunting. Based on measurements of various Belgian skeletons, Dollo estimated M. lemonnieri grew to around 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33ft) in length. His calculations interpreted "body length" as the length of the postcranial body, not the total length of the animal as demonstrated in Russell (1967), This erroneously inflated the estimate by 10%. [q] Two of these cases displayed irregular surface deformities around the fusion site caused by drainage of the vertebral sinuses, which is indicative of a bone infection. All species of Mosasaurus have seven cervical vertebrae, but other vertebral counts vary among them. It is geographically subdivided into two biogeographic provinces that respectively include the northern and southern Tethyan margins. The scientists utilized an interpretation that differences in isotope values can help explain the level of resource partitioning because it is influenced by multiple environmental factors such as lifestyle, diet, and habitat preference. [114][121], Mosasaurus is known from late Maastrichtian deposits in the Antarctic Peninsula, specifically the Lpez de Bertodano Formation in Seymour Island. [7][9] Third, there was still a lack of comparative studies of the skeletal anatomy of large mosasaurines at the time. [47][48][49], The type species, M. hoffmannii, is one of the largest marine reptiles known,[50][46] though knowledge of its skeleton remains incomplete as it is mainly known from skulls. fossils is in the Hornerstown Formation, a deposit typically dated to be from the Paleocene Danian age, which was immediately after the Maastrichtian age. [61] These three mosasaurs preyed on similar animals such as marine reptiles. [14] By 1808, Camper's son Adriaan Gilles Camper and Georges Cuvier concluded that the fossil,[16] which by then was nicknamed the "great animal of Maastricht",[13] belonged to a marine lizard with affinities to monitor lizards, but otherwise unlike any modern animal. Changing temperatures and an abundance in marine life were characteristic of these localities. It has been pointed out how 13C can be influenced by other factors in an animal's lifestyle, such as diet and diving behavior. This is significantly higher than the bite force of the largest shark species, the great white shark, which is estimated to be arund 1,950 psi. [88][126] To account for this, a 2014 study by T. Lynn Harrell Jr. and Alberto Perez-Huerta examined the concentration ratios of neodymium, gadolinium, and ytterbium in M. hoffmannii and Mosasaurus sp. IRSNB R25 preserves a complete fracture near the sixth tooth socket. [129] As well as physical destruction, the impact also blocked out sunlight[132] leading to a collapse of marine food webs. (Interestingly, the dog you'd expect to see on this list, the pit bull, can only muster a bite force of 250 PSI, about the same as a full-grown human.) ;[58] Paul (2022) estimated an individual of that size to weigh 700 kilograms (1,500lb). One such bone is a quadrate (NHMM 003892) which is 150% larger than the average size, which Everhart and colleagues in 2016 reported can be extrapolated to scale an individual around 18 meters (59ft) in length. Mosasaurus had a transatlantic distribution, with its fossils having been found in marine deposits on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He clarified that earlier interpretations of claws were erroneous and demonstrated how the phalanges show no indication of muscle or tendon attachment, which would make walking impossible. Even the [Tyrannosaurus rex] bite would be puny by comparison. Relationships between mosasaurs and living squamates remain controversial as scientists still fiercely debate on whether the closest living relatives of mosasaurs are monitor lizards or snakes. But especially compared to those in M. lemonnieri, the pterygoid teeth in M. hoffmannii are relatively small, which indicates ratchet feeding was relatively unimportant to its hunting and feeding. [30], Mosasaurus was a type of derived mosasaur, or a latecoming member with advanced evolutionary traits such as a fully aquatic lifestyle. Incorporating the species M. missouriensis, M. conodon, M. maximus, and an indeterminate specimen (UNSM 77040), some of his findings agreed with Russell (1967), such as Mosasaurus descending from an ancestral group containing Clidastes and M. conodon being the most basal of the genus. The fossils were found in association with fossils of Squalicorax, Enchodus, and various ammonites within a uniquely fossil-rich bed at the base of the Hornerstown Formation known as the Main Fossiliferous Layer. [50], The tissue structure of Mosasaurus' bones suggests it had a metabolic rate much higher than modern squamates and its resting metabolic rate was between that of the leatherback sea turtle and that of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Its tail was long and ended in a downward bend and a paddle-like fluke. [112][114] During the Navesinkan Age, Mosasaurus dominated the whole region, accounting for around two-thirds of all mosasaur diversity with Plioplatecarpus and Prognathodon sharing the remaining third. Like most advanced mosasaurs, the tail bends slightly downwards as it approached the center, but this bend is offset from the dorsal plane at a small degree. This is shown from a fossil skull of a subadult M. hoffmannii with fractures caused by a massive concentrated blow to the braincase; Lingham-Soliar (1998) argued that this blow was dealt by a ramming attack by Tylosaurus bernardi, as the formation of the fractures were characteristic of a coordinated strike (and not an accident or fossilization damage), and T. bernardi was the only known coexisting animal likely capable of causing such damage, using its robust arrow-like elongated snout. This story helped elevate the fossil into cultural fame, but historians agree that the narrative was exaggerated. [f][40] The cutting edges of M. beaugei are neither serrated nor smooth, but instead possess minute wrinkles known as crenulations. This bite force pressure is usually measured with a compression gauge of some kind, which gets inserted into the creature's mouth for them to bite down on. The bite force of Mosasaurus has been estimated to be between 13,000 and 16,000 pounds per square inch (psi). Schlegel's hypothesis was largely ignored by contemporary scientists but became widely accepted by the 1870s when Othniel Charles Marsh and Cope uncovered more complete mosasaur remains in North America. [46] Using a smaller partial jaw (NHMM 009002) measuring 90 centimeters (35in) and "reliably estimated at" 160 centimeters (63in) when complete, Lingham-Soliar (1995) estimated a larger maximum length of 17.6 meters (58ft) via the same ratio. Agnete Weinreich Carlsen considered it the simplest explanation that such conditions were a product of inadequate anatomical adaptation. The paddles' steering function was enabled by large muscle attachments from the outwards-facing side of the humerus to the radius and ulna and modified joints allowed an enhanced ability of rotating the flippers. 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