FOSSILS SPECIMEN: MOSASAURS

Fossils are defined as any evidence of prehistoric life. There are two types of fossils: Body Fossils include remains of skeletal bones, shell, carapace, test and teeth. Trace Fossils are clues the organism existed such as foot prints, tracks, burrows and coprolites (fossil dung).

Mosasaurs are marine reptiles closely related to snakes and lizards that lived exclusively in th the late or upper Cretaceous between 100 and 66 million years ago. The earliest members of this group can be found in my home state of Texas and are highlighted at the Perot Museum on Dallas, Texas. Mosasaur teeth are a commonly sold “giftshop” fossil. To see my Mosasaur models click here.

Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Superclass: Tetrapoda – Class: Reptilia – Order: Squamata – Clade: Pythonomorpha – Superfamily: Mosasauroidea – Family: Mosasauridae

(snake-like marine reptiles mosasaurs)

Late Cretaceous

Shell crushing Mosasaur tooth

Globidens “globe tooth”

Late/Upper Cretacseous 85 to 65 million years ago

Western Interior Seaway of North America

Mosasaur Vertebrae

Upper Cretaceous

Ladonia, Texas