Mosasaurus was a ferocious predator in the ancient oceans of the Cretaceous period (145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago). While dinosaurs dominated the land, Mosasaurus used its long tail and stumpy, paddle-like limbs to cruise through the water, devouring all kinds of prey with its massive jaws and sharp, cone-shaped teeth.

Mosasaurus is one genus, or group of species, out of dozens that made up a diverse family of marine reptiles called mosasaurs. The mosasaurs ruled the ocean in the late Cretaceous period. They were not sea dinosaurs, but a separate group of reptiles, more closely related to modern snakes and lizards, according to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum.

Mosasaurus species are among the largest members of the mosasaur family, according to the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. One of the biggest specimens ever found was identified as Mosasaurus hoffmanni and was estimated to be about 56 feet (17 meters) long in life, according to a 2014 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS. Not all mosasaurs were giants though. Some species, such as Xenodens calminechari, were only about the size of a porpoise

Mosasaurs were the ocean's most dominant predator at the end of the Cretaceous period and lived across the world's oceans. Large mosasaurs would have likely eaten almost any kind of prey they were able to catch, including fish, sharks, sea birds and even other mosasaurs, according to the U.S. National Park Service. These mosasaurs were apex predators and could be compared to modern orcas, while other mosasaur species were more specialized feeders and adapted to eat shellfish, like modern sea otters

Occasionally, mosasaur fossils were preserved with their stomach contents intact, which helps paleontologists learn more about their hunting strategies. For example, paleontologists in Canada uncovered a specimen from the species Mosasaurus missouriensis with large fish bones inside it, according to National Geographic(opens in new tab). The fish was larger than the mosasaur's head, and the placement of the bones suggested the mosasaur had devoured its prey piece by piece.

In another fossil find, a juvenile Mosasaurus was found in the stomach of another mosasaur species, Prognathodon kianda. The fossil, from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), demonstrates that even the largest mosasaur species could be preyed upon. In fact, Mosasaurus hoffmanni fossils have been uncovered with severely broken and healed jaws that indicate they led a violent or dangerous lifestyle

Mosasaurus probably hunted in fairly deep waters, but would not have traveled too far from the shore, according to the NMNH.

Mosasaurs may have started out swimming through the water like a snake or an eel, but mosasaur tails changed over time. The animals evolved to have a shark-like tail to propel themselves through the water. They may also have been capable of a powerful breaststroke, using their paddle-like forelimbs to assist in sudden bursts of speed to catch prey.

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  • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    The "LA to NYC high speed rail would never work" strawman is so funny. Like you can still have flights from LA to NYC, it would just make sense to build high speed rail on the northeast corridor and the various other enormous and densely population regions across America. It's localized to spots but it's so wild to use the nationwide population density as an argument against rail. Like ok yeah no one suggested an Anchorage to Jacksonville line.

    • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I can elaborate on this. LA TO NYC high speed rail is not a dumb idea, but it's not a good starter line and somewhat impractical with today's high speed tech. LA to NYC is something to build after building regional high speed rail networks and electrifying most main lines.

      Let's talk about the line itself. It's not a dumb idea but it would work best as a night train. Even at full tilt (220mph) the train trip would still take 12 hours. I see a possible future where trains have been sped up to 250, but that still takes 11 hours, and that's if you averaged 250mph for the entire trip. I see a potential future where the line is mostly used for regional service but also used for many busy night trains. Getting on a train in LA, falling asleep in Vegas, and waking up somewhere in New Jersey to arrive in New York is not impossible, but we are decades and decades away from that happening.