Life restoration of the mosasaur Hainosaurus feeding on a cephalopod
This timeline of mosasaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of mosasaurs, a group of giant marine lizards that lived during the Late Cretaceous Epoch. Although mosasaurs went extinct millions of years before humans evolved, humans have coexisted with mosasaur fossils for millennia. Before the development of paleontology as a formal science, these remains would have been interpreted through a mythological lens. Myths about warfare between serpentine water monsters and aerial thunderbirds told by the Native Americans of the modern western United States may have been influenced by observations of mosasaur fossils and their co-occurrence with creatures like Pteranodon and Hesperornis.[1]
The scientific study of mosasaurs began in the late 18th century with the serendipitous discovery of a large fossilized skeleton in a limestone mine near Maastricht in the Netherlands.[2] The fossils were studied by local scholar Adriaan Gilles Camper, who noted a resemblance to modern monitor lizards in correspondence with renowned French anatomist Georges Cuvier.[3] Nevertheless, the animal was not scientifically described until the English Reverend William Daniel Conybeare named it Mosasaurus, after the river Meuse located near the site of its discovery.[4]
By this time the first mosasaur fossils from the United States were discovered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the first remains in the country to be scientifically described were reported slightly later from New Jersey.[5] This was followed by an avalanche of discoveries by the feuding Bone War paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh in the Smoky Hill Chalk of Kansas.[6] By the end of the century a specimen of Tylosaurus would be found that preserved its scaley skin.[7] Later Samuel Wendell Williston mistook fossilized tracheal rings for the remains of a fringe of skin running down the animal's back, which subsequently became a common inaccuracy in artistic restorations.[8]
The 20th century soon saw the discovery in Alabama of a strange mosasaur called Globidens, with rounded teeth suited to crushing shells.[9] Mosasaur remains were also discovered in Africa and California.[10] In 1967 Dale Russell published a scientific monograph dedicated to mosasaurs.[11] Embryonic remains in the 1990s confirmed that mosasaurs gave live birth like in ichthyosaurs.[12] The 1990s also saw a revival and escalation of a debate regarding whether or not some supposed mosasaur toothmarks in ammonoid shells were actually made by limpets.[13] By the end of the century, the evolutionary relationship between mosasaurs and snakes as well as the possible involvement of mosasaurs in the extinction of the aforementioned ichthyosaurs became hot button controversies.[14]
The debates regarding snakes, toothmarks, and ichthyosaurs spilled over into the early 21st century. These discussions were also accompanied by the discovery of many new taxa, including new species of Globidens, Mosasaurus, and Tylosaurus as well as entirely new genera like Yaguarasaurus and Tethysaurus.[15] In 2013, Lindgren, Kaddumi, and Polcyn reported the discovery of a Prognathodon specimen from Jordan that preserved the soft tissues of its scaley skin, flippers and tail. Significantly, the tail resembled those of modern carcharinid sharks, although the bottom lobe of the tail fin was longest in the mosasaur whereas shark tails have longer upper lobes.[16]
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and 30 Related for: Timeline of mosasaur research information
This timelineofmosasaurresearch is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions...
Mosasaurs (from Latin Mosa meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek σαύρος sauros meaning 'lizard') are an extinct group of large aquatic reptiles within the family...
Jormungandr was a medium-sized mosasaur, at around 6–8 metres (20–26 ft) long, and its skeletal anatomy exhibits a mix of features seen in both basal and...
Paleontology History of science History of paleontology Timelineof paleontology Timelineof plesiosaur researchTimelineofmosasaurresearch Ellis (2003);...
(tylos) 'protuberance, knob' + Greek σαῦρος (sauros) 'lizard') is a genus ofmosasaur, a large, predatory marine reptile closely related to modern monitor...
Prognathodon is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside genera...
(/ˌmoʊzəˈsɔːrəs/; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles....
wing") is an extinct genus of mosasaurine mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous Toyajo Formation (Hasegawa Muddy Sandstone Member) of Japan. The genus contains...
et al. described Khinjaria acuta as a new genus and species of plioplatecarpine mosasaur based on these fossil remains. The generic name, "Khinjaria"...
basally branching close relative of Prognathodon. List ofmosasaur genera Timelineofmosasaurresearch Schulp, Anne; Polcyn, Michael; Mateus, Octávio; Jacobs...
genus of aquatic lizards belonging to the mosasaur family, living around 84–81 million years ago during the middle Santonian to early Campanian, of the...
and all other later diverging plioplatecarpines. Sarabosaurus is a small mosasaur, with the type specimen estimated at 3 metres (9.8 ft) in total body length...
Germany. Timeline of paleontology Timeline of ichthyosaur researchTimelineofmosasaurresearch List of plesiosaurs Ellis (2003); "Introduction: Isn't That...
Plioplatecarpus is a genus ofmosasaur lizard. Like all mosasaurs, it lived in the late Cretaceous period, about 73-68 million years ago. Plioplatecarpus...
an extinct genus of plioplatecarpine mosasaur known from the Late Cretaceous (early middle Campanian stage) of the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Western...
and other mosasaurs. In some later mosasaur species, their teeth were modified to rend flesh as well. While many other mosasaurs were capable of crushing...
This list ofmosasaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the family Mosasauridae or the parent clade Mosasauroidea...
Greek and Latin for "strange tooth") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It currently contains a single species, X. calminechari...
extinct genus ofmosasaurs (a group of extinct marine lizards) that lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. It is a member of the subfamily...
Kaikaifilu is an extinct genus of large mosasaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) in what is now northern Antarctica. The only species...
Gavialimimus is an extinct genus of plioplatecarpine mosasaur from the Maastrichtian of Morocco. The holotype MHNM.KHG.1231, an articulated skull and associated...
Brachysaurana is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside...
The Mosasaurinae are a subfamily ofmosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the subfamily are informally and collectively...
Plioplatecarpinae is a subfamily ofmosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the subfamily are informally and collectively...
Halisaurus is an extinct genus ofmosasaur named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1869. The holotype, consisting of an angular and a basicranium fragment discovered...
Plotosaurus ("swimmer lizard") is an extinct genus ofmosasaurs who lived during the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) in what is now North America. Only...
2016). "Cretaceous δ13C stratigraphy and the age of dolichosaurs and early mosasaurs". Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 84 (3): 257–268. doi:10.1017/S0016774600021041...
Dale A. Russell for his extensive work on mosasaurs ("Russell's lizard"). This is the second species ofmosasaur to have been named for Russell, the first...
Carsosaurus is a genus of extinct amphibious reptiles, in the mosasaur superfamily, containing only the species Carsosaurus marchesetti. It is known from...
Phosphorosaurus ("phosphate lizard") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. Phosphorosaurus is classified within the Halisaurinae...
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