Mosasaurus

Mosasaurus
	Skeleton reconstruction of Mosasaurus hoffmannii
Temporal occurrence
	Upper Cretaceous ( Campanium to Maastrichtian )
	83.6 to 66 million years
Locations
	Europe; North America;
Systematics
	Toxicofera
	Sneaky (Anguimorpha)
	Mosasauroidea
	Mosasaur (Mosasauridae)
	Mosasaurinae
	Mosasaurus
Scientific name
	Mosasaurus
	Conybeare , 1822

Mosasaurus ("Lizard from the Meuse ") is a genus of Mosasaur (Mosasauridae), an extinct family of large marine reptiles from the Upper Cretaceous . The genus gave its name to the Mosasauridae, scaled reptiles , which were highly adapted to an aquatic way of life. William Daniel Conybeare published the first description of the genusin 1822. Mosasaurus was one of the last, most developed and largest mosasaurs.

Live reconstruction of M. hoffmannii

The first fossil , the skull of the holotype ( NMHN AC. 9648), was found around 1770 by Dutch miners near Maastricht . After French troops marched in , the skull was brought to Paris as spoils of war in 1794 . A first study by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier took place there.

The largest species of the genus, M. hoffmannii , probably reached a total length of almost 18 meters. It is also the type species . Gideon Mantell named the species in 1829 after the military surgeon supposedly involved in the recovery of the skull, Johann Leonard Hoffmann.

Mosasaurus was the first reptile to be recognized as a non-existent species from an ancient world. Previously, fossils were thought to be the remains of recent (or rather immutable) species.

M. hoffmannii , the largest species in the genus

Individual evidence

^ William D. Conybeare : Fossil crocodiles and other saurian animals. In: James Parkinson : Outlines of oryctology. An introduction to the study of fossil organic remains; especially those found in the British strata: intended to aid the student in his inquiries respecting the nature of fossils, and their connection with the formation of the earth. Printed for the author, London 1822, pp. 284–304, here p. 298 .
^ Gideon Mantell : A Tabular Arrangement of the Organic Remains of the County of Sussex. In: A Tabular Arrangement of the Organic Remains of the County of Sussex. In: Transactions of the Geological Society of London. Series 2, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1829, ZDB -ID 352250-7 , pp. 201-216, here p. 207 , doi : 10.1144 / transgslb.3.1.201

literature

Richard Ellis: Sea Dragons. Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence KS 2003, ISBN 0-7006-1269-6 .

Web links

Commons : Mosasaurus - collection of images, videos and audio files

The Paleobiology Database
Mosasaurus - The Ultimate Mosasaur. In: Oceansofkansas.com
The skull structure of the Mosasaurus. In: Oceansofkansas.com (English translation of Goldfuss's work , 1845)
Mosasaurus hoffmanni - The First Discovery of a Mosasaur? In: Oceansofkansas.com
Dinosaur skull completely again after 170 years. Science Information Service, February 5, 2007

[1] William D. Conybeare : Fossil crocodiles and other saurian animals. In: James Parkinson : Outlines of oryctology. An introduction to the study of fossil organic remains; especially those found in the British strata: intended to aid the student in his inquiries respecting the nature of fossils, and their connection with the formation of the earth. Printed for the author, London 1822, pp. 284–304, here p. 298 .

[2] Gideon Mantell : A Tabular Arrangement of the Organic Remains of the County of Sussex. In: A Tabular Arrangement of the Organic Remains of the County of Sussex. In: Transactions of the Geological Society of London. Series 2, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1829, ZDB -ID 352250-7 , pp. 201-216, here p. 207 , doi : 10.1144 / transgslb.3.1.201