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. ive heard that they do then ive heard that their jaws are to small for a bite force greater than the tyrant king. Unfortunately for Mosasaurus, few animals match Megalodon when it comes to sheer bite force. Mosasaurus hoffmannii v Pliosaurus funkei - Carnivora 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. M. hoffmannii and Prognathodon sectorius were the dominant species in the northern province. The teeth were largely consistent in size and shape with only minor differences throughout the jaws (homodont) except for the smaller pterygoid teeth. 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. It is geographically subdivided into two biogeographic provinces that respectively include the northern and southern Tethyan margins. This ancient sea reptile had a slicing bite like no other - Science News 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. [85] Located within the polar circle at around 65S,[104] temperatures at medium to large water depths would have been around 6C (43F) on average, while sea surface temperatures may have dropped below freezing and sea ice may have formed at times. Marine reptile assemblages in the New Jersey region of the province are generally equivalent with those in Europe; the mosasaur faunae are quite similar but exclude M. lemonnieri, Carinodens, Tylosaurus, and certain species of Halisaurus and Prognathodon. An alternate explanation postulates the bite marks as from one individual mosasaur that lightly bit the nautiloid at first, then proceeded to bite again with greater force. [35][33] Further mining of the quarry in subsequent years uncovered many additional well-preserved fossils, including multiple partial skeletons which collectively represented nearly the entire skeleton of the species. [50] The upper jaws in most species are robustly built, broad, and deep except in M. conodon, where they are slender. [67] The tail vertebrae gradually shorten around the center of the tail and lengthen behind the center, suggesting rigidness around the tail center and excellent flexibility behind it. They are also broad, flat, and form a paddle. The Northern Interior Subprovince also saw a restructuring of mosasaur assemblages, characterized by the disappearance of mosasaurs like Platecarpus and their replacement by Mosasaurus and Plioplatecarpus. The overall structure of the paddle is compressed, similar to in Plotosaurus, and was well-suited for faster swimming. (hover over or click on each skeletal component to identify the structure), Because nomenclatural rules were not well-defined at the time, 19th century scientists did not give Mosasaurus a proper diagnosis during its initial descriptions, which led to ambiguity in how the genus is defined. [58][91], Attacks by another Mosasaurus are a possible cause of physical pathologies in other skulls, but they could have instead arisen from other incidents like attempted biting on hard turtle shells. Changing temperatures and an abundance in marine life were characteristic of these localities. [74] He proposed that Mosasaurus evolved from a Clidastes-like mosasaur, and diverged into two lineages, one giving rise to M. conodon and another siring a chronospecies sequence which contained in order of succession M. ivoensis, M. missouriensis, and M. [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. [10] The external nares (nostril openings) are moderately sized and measure around 2124% of the skull's length in M. hoffmannii. They belong to the order Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes . With the impending release of the fourth film in the Jurassic Park series we thought we'd present you with the most ferocious bites in the dinosaur kingdom. [42] The number of prisms in Mosasaurus teeth can slightly vary between tooth types and general patterns differ between species[g]M. 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. Mosasaurus probably had a strong bite force due to eating prey like giant turtles in its time. [97] Such fossil records, along with a total absence of any evidence suggesting external egg-based reproduction, indicates the likeliness of viviparity in Mosasaurus. [102] Multiple oceanic climate zones encompassed the seaways, including tropical, subtropical, temperate, and subpolar climates. As befitting mammals that can eat, chew and digest solid bone, spotted hyenas are equipped with massive skulls, disproportionately large trunks and forelimbs, and powerful bites that can rip through carcasses with up to 1,000 pounds of force per square inch. Mosasaurus fossils have been found less than 15 meters (49ft) below the boundary in the Maastricht Formation, the Davutlar Formation in Turkey, the Jagel Formation in Argentina, Stevns Klint in Denmark, Seymour Island, and Missouri. Spinosaurus is larger than the T-Rex, but the T-Rex has a far deadlier bite. [49], The forelimbs of Mosasaurus are wide and robust. [21][b] Cuvier later designated the second skull as the new species' holotype (defining example). Did mosasaurus actually have a stronger bite force than t rex? 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. The skull of Mosasaurus was equipped with robust jaws capable of swinging back and forth and strong muscles capable of powerful bites using dozens of large teeth adapted for cutting prey. Mosasaurus was 40 feet. conodon. 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. This was by observing the von Ebner lines, incremental marks in dentin that form daily. [75], The following cladogram on the left (Topology A) is modified from a maximum clade credibility tree inferred by a Bayesian analysis in the most recent major phylogenetic analysis of the Mosasaurinae subfamily by Madzia & Cau (2017), which was self-described as a refinement of a larger study by Simes et al. [82] This adaptation would have given several advantages to Mosasaurus, including increased stamina when foraging across larger areas and pursuing prey. This study was conducted on only one tooth and may not represent the exact durations of, The number of caudal vertebrae is not fully certain for, Street & Caldwell (2017) revised this assessment of. [129], One enigmatic occurrence of Mosasaurus sp. Both specimens show signs of deep bacterial infection alongside the fractures; some bacteria may have spread to nearby damaged teeth and caused tooth decay, which may have entered deeper tissue from prior post-traumatic or secondary infections. In this case, there were signs of healing around the wound, implying survival of the incident. [11][32] In his description, Cope does not provide the etymology for the specific epithet conodon,[31] but it is suggested that it could be a portmanteau meaning "conical tooth", derived from the Ancient Greek (knos, "cone") and (odn, "tooth"), probably in reference to conical surface teeth smooth of the species. [16] The skull became part of Cuvier's first speculations about the conception of extinction, which later led to his theory of catastrophism, a precursor to the theory of evolution. A new analysis published on Wednesday of fossils of the creature unearthed in 1975 has determined that it deserves to be recognized as a new genus of mosasaur based on skeletal traits including a. [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. According to one hypothesis, the fossils may have originated from an earlier Cretaceous deposit and were reworked into the Paleocene formation during its early deposition. [50], Paleontologists generally agree that Mosasaurus was likely an active predator of a variety of marine animals. Did mosasaurus actually have a stronger bite force than t rex? (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Maastrichtian of Angola, and the affinities of the mosasaur genus Liodon - Proceedings of the Second Mosasaur Meeting . The swimming style was likely sub-carangiform, which is exemplified today by mackerels. [61] Lingham-Soliar (1995) suggested that Mosasaurus had a rather "savage" feeding behavior as demonstrated by large tooth marks on scutes of the giant sea turtle Allopleuron hoffmanni and fossils of re-healed fractured jaws in M. [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. The long, narrow, and heavy nature of the lower jaws and attachment of tendons at the coronoid process would have allowed quick opening and closing of the mouth with little energy input underwater, which also contributed to the powerful bite force of M. hoffmannii and suggests it would not have needed the strong magnus depressor muscles (jaw-opening muscles) seen in some plesiosaurs. 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. [102], Many of the earliest fossils of Mosasaurus were found in Campanian stage deposits in North America, including the Western Interior Seaway, an inland sea which once flowed through what is now the central United States and Canada, and connected the Arctic Ocean to the modern-day Gulf of Mexico. These environments were dominated by mosasaurs and marine side-necked turtles. Many of the fossils with injuries possibly attributable to intraspecific combat are of juvenile or sub-adult Mosasaurus, leading to the possibility that attacks on smaller, weaker individuals may have been more common. Mosasaur - Wikipedia "The only plausible attacker with sufficient bite force to penetrate the cortical bone to such an extent is another mosasaur," Bastiaans and his team concluded, identifying the wound as a "tooth strike lesion." The infection ended up being worse than the bite. In 2004, Lingham-Soliar observed that if these injuries were indeed the result of an intraspecific attack, then there is a pattern of them concentrating in the skull region. Plotosaurini paleogeographic occurrences", "Hermann Schlegel's investigation of the Maastricht mosasaurs". [9], The features of teeth in Mosasaurus vary across species, but unifying characteristics include a design specialized for cutting prey, highly prismatic surfaces (enamel circumference shaped by flat sides called prisms), and two opposite cutting edges. [97][98] Microanatomical studies on bones of juvenile Mosasaurus and related genera have found that their bone structures are comparable to adults. Mosasaurus - Wikipedia Adding to its offensive line-up are a line of 40-50 teeth measuring some 25-30mm in length. [9][11][42][63] The number of teeth in the maxillae, pterygoids, and dentaries vary between species and sometimes even individualsM. [50], Like all mosasaurs, the lower jaws of Mosasaurus could swing forward and backward. [93], There are some M. hoffmannii jaws with evidence of infectious diseases as a result of physical injuries. [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. [50] Chemical and structural data in the fossils of M. lemonnieri and M. conodon suggests they may have also hunted in deeper waters. Due coexistence with other large mosasaurs like Prognathodon, which specialized in robust prey, M. missouriensis likely specialized more on prey best consumed using cutting-adapted teeth in an example of niche partitioning. Young T. rexes had a powerful bite, even if only one-sixth that of The region was shallow for a seaway, reaching a maximum depth of about 800900 meters (2,6003,000ft). The exact affinities of Mosasaurus as a squamate remain controversial, and scientists continue to debate whether its closest living relatives are monitor lizards or snakes. He contacted the prominent biologist Petrus Camper, and the skull gained international attention after Camper published a study identifying it as a whale. The Mediterranean Tethys during the Maastrichtian stage was located in what is now Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Mosasaurs (from Latin Mosa meaning the ' Meuse ', and Greek sauros meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. The animal was a mosasaur, an extinct, marine . A-Z-Animals.com Five Cool Facts About T-Rex vs Spinosaurus T-Rex had one of the most powerful bites of any animal that has ever lived, with an estimated bite force of over 12,000 pounds per square inch. [7] A particular near-complete skeleton of M. missouriensis is reportedly measured at 6.5 meters (21ft) in total length with a skull approaching 1 meter (3.3ft) in length. [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. [5], The palate, which consists of the pterygoid bones, palatine bone, and nearby processes of other bones, is tightly packed to provide greater cranial stability. [30] In 1854, Hermann Schlegel proved how Mosasaurus actually had fully aquatic flippers. [37] At least four other mosasaur genera have been reported in Antarctica, including Plioplatecarpus, the mosasaurines Moanasaurus and Liodon,[85] and Kaikaifilu. [77] However, the study used a method unorthodox to traditional phylogenetic studies on mosasaur species because its focus was on the relationships of entire squamate groups rather than mosasaur classification. Various partial skeletons of M. conodon, M. hoffmannii, and M. missouriensis suggest M. conodon likely had up to thirty-six dorsal vertebrae and nine pygal vertebrae; M. hoffmannii had likely up to thirty-two dorsal vertebrae and ten pygal vertebrae;[i][11][36] and M. missouriensis around thirty-three dorsal vertebrae, eleven pygal vertebrae, and at least seventy-nine caudal vertebrae. [11] The disparity is also reflected in the dentary, the lower jawbone,[36] although all species share a long and straight dentary. [11][50] In the hindlimbs, the paddle is supported by four sets of digits. 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. These cranial structures are united by strong interlocking sutures formed to resist compression and shear forces caused by a downward thrust of the lower jaw muscles or an upward thrust of prey. [11] The ilium is rod-like and slender; in M. missouriensis, it is around 1.5 times longer than the femur. In each jaw row, from front to back, Mosasaurus had: two premaxillary teeth, twelve to sixteen maxillary teeth, and eight to sixteen pterygoid teeth on the upper jaw and fourteen to seventeen dentary teeth on the lower jaw. [38] Based on this ratio, Grigoriev (2014) used the largest lower jaw attributed to M. hoffmannii (CCMGE 10/2469, also known as the Penza specimen; measuring 171 centimeters (67in) in length) to estimate a maximum length of 17.1 meters (56ft). Second, the species was overshadowed by the more famous and history-rich type species. Mosasaurus had a transatlantic distribution, with its fossils having been found in marine deposits on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. There are two finely ulcerated scratches on the bone callus, which may have developed as part of the healing process. Together with the formation of a nutrient-rich deepwater mass from the mixing of continental freshwater, Arctic waters from the north, and warmer saline Tethyan waters from the south, this created a warm and productive seaway that supported a rich diversity of marine life. (2018). "The science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, part 2: "The world's first dinosaur park: what the Victorians got right and wrong", "Convergent Evolution in Aquatic Tetrapods: Insights from an Exceptional Fossil Mosasaur". The lack of a strong sense of smell suggests that olfaction was not particularly important in Mosasaurus; instead, other senses like vision may have been more useful. As such, it had a streamlined body, an elongated tail ending with a downturn supporting a two-lobed fin, and two pairs of flippers. (PDF) Alleged mosasaur bite marks on Late Cretaceous ammonites are [53], The skull of Mosasaurus is conical and tapers off to a short snout which extends a little beyond the frontmost teeth. What constitutes published work", "A new mosasaurine from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) phosphates of Morocco and its implications for mosasaurine systematics", "Inferring 'weak spots' in phylogenetic trees: application to mosasauroid nomenclature", "Reassessing Mosasaurini based on a systematic revision of, "Mosasauroid phylogeny under multiple phylogenetic methods provides new insights on the evolution of aquatic adaptations in the group", "Inertial feeding in reptiles: the role of skull mass reduction", "Microanatomical and Histological Features in the Long Bones of Mosasaurine Mosasaurs (Reptilia, Squamata) Implications for Aquatic Adaptation and Growth Rates", "Seasonal reproductive endothermy in tegu lizards", "Late Cretaceous winter sea ice in Antarctica? Seabeds bordering the cratons in Africa and Arabia and extending to the Levant and Brazil provided vast shallow marine environments. First, the genus was severely underrepresented by incorporating only the three North American species M. hoffmannii/M. The oceanic climate of the Northern Interior Subprovince was likely a cool temperate one, while the Southern Interior Subprovince had warm temperate to subtropical climates. Paleontologists have done some sort of biomechanical modeling based on teeth we've found, and they calculated the bite force would be about 40,000 pounds per square inch, which is by far the highest bite force ever calculated for any animal, living or extinct. Based on measurements of various Belgian skeletons, Dollo estimated M. lemonnieri grew to around 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33ft) in length. [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. 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. [95], Unnatural fusion of tail vertebrae has been documented in Mosasaurus, which occurs when the bones remodel themselves after damage from trauma or disease. The powerful forces resulting from utilization of the paddles may have sometimes resulted in bone damage, as evidenced by a M. hoffmannii ilium with significant separation of the bone's head from the rest of the bone likely caused by frequent shearing forces at the articulation joint. This level of bone infection would have been tremendously painful and severely hampered the mosasaur's ability to use its jaws. In fighting likely took place in the form of snout grappling, similarly seen in modern crocodiles today. MEGALODON VS MOSASAURUS - Who Would Win? As a tropical area, bony fish such as Enchodus and Stratodus and various sharks were common throughout the southern Tethyan margin. This giant shark is 25 m in length (82 ft) and swims up to 17 m/s (55 ft/s). 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%. [83] It may have also been a factor that allowed Mosasaurus to thrive in the colder climates of locations such as Antarctica. MEGALODON VS MOSASAURUS - Who Would Win? - YouTube 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. The radius and ulna are short, but the former is taller and larger than the latter. [128], By the end of the Cretaceous, mosasaurs were at the height of their evolutionary radiation, and their extinction was a sudden event. [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. They do not exhibit the bone mass increase found in juvenile primitive mosasauroids to support buoyancy associated with a lifestyle in shallow water, implying that Mosasaurus was precocial: they were already efficient swimmers and lived fully functional lifestyles in open water at a very young age, and did not require nursery areas to raise their young. 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. T. Rex Bite Strongest Ever on LandTen Times Greater Than Gator's However, it is possible that such specimens may actually represent Moanasaurus, although this depends on the outcome of a pending revision of the genus. Prognathodon - Prehistoric Wildlife Many elements of the sculpture can be considered inaccurate, even for the time. [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. 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. In contrast, M. missouriensis had stomach contents consisting of fish, indicative of a diet specialized in softer prey. Its tail was long and ended in a downward bend and a paddle-like fluke. [124] The fish assemblage of the Lpez de Bertodano Formation was dominated by Enchodus and ichthyodectiformes. Many of the Mosasaurus fossils from the Main Fossiliferous Layer consist of isolated bones commonly abraded and worn, but the layer also yielded better-preserved Mosasaurus remains. 19 Facts About Mosasaurus [2023] - BlogDigger It was approximated that it took the odontoblasts 511 days and dentin 233 days to develop to the extent observed in the tooth. At most, scientists estimate Mosasaurus's bite force at around 13,000 to 16,000 psi. The rare earth element ratios were very consistent throughout most of the examined Mosasaurus fossils, indicating consistent habitat preference, and clustered towards a ratio representing offshore habitats with ocean depths deeper than 50 meters (160ft). First, M. lemonnieri fossils are endemic to Belgium and the Netherlands, which despite the famous discovery of the M. hoffmannii holotype attracted little attention from mosasaur paleontologists. Rather than being fused together, extensive cartilage likely connected the ribs with the sternum, which would have facilitated breathing movements and compression when in deeper waters. 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. Mosasaurus gave its name to a group of marine lizards - Mosasaurs. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. 7 Mega Wild Facts About the Megalodon - Ocean Conservancy Compare that to Tyrannosaurus rex, which had a bite force of 12,000 pounds per square inch, and it's clear you've got a mighty bite on your hands. [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. Liopleurodon vs Mosasaurus: Who Would Win in a Fight? 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. The study found a dietary divide between M. missouriensis and Prognathodon overtoni based on stomach contents. [89], There is fossil evidence that Mosasaurus engaged in aggressive and lethal combat with others of its kind. The genus existed during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period (Mesozoic era), around 70-65 million years ago in the area of modern Western Europe and North America. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. 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