Prehistoric Models: Mosasaurs
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 fossils 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
Genus: Mosasaurus (”Meuse lizard - after the Meuse River”)
Genus pronounced: Moe-za-sore-us.
Named By: William Daniel Conybeare - 1822 (Gideon Mantell added the species name in - 1829)
Classification: Tribe: Mosasaurini.
Species: M. hoffmannii (type), M. beaugei, M. conodon, M. lemonnieri, M. missouriensis
Known locations: Western Europe and North America
Time period: Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Size: 15 meters long
Diet: Carnivore
Genus: Tylosaurus (Knob lizard)
Genus pronounced: Tie-lo-sore-us
Named By: Othniel Charles Marsh - 1872.
Classification: Subfamily: Tylosaurinae
Species: T. prioriger (type), T. bernardi, T. gaudryi, T. iembeensis, T. ivoensis, T. nepaeolicus, T. pembinensis, T. saskatchewanensis
Known locations: Canada. Central states of USA
Time period: Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Size: 15 meters long
Diet: Carnivore
