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. [37] In 1967, Dale Russell argued that M. lemonnieri and M. conodon are the same species and designated the former as a junior synonym per the principle of priority. 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. There are some other species of mosasaur that specialised in eating this kind of prey so they had stronger bites than Mosasaurus who was a generalist predator so it would take anything that fit into its mouth, not unlike tiger sharks today. This distribution encompassed a wide range of oceanic climates including tropical, subtropical, temperate, and subpolar climates. This bite force pressure is usually measured with a compression gauge of some kind, which gets inserted into the creature's mouth for them to bite down on. These species include one comparable with M. lemonnieri, and another that appears to be closely related to M. A third hypothesis proposes that the layer is a lag deposit of Cretaceous sediments forced out by a strong impact by a tsunami, and what remained was subsequently refilled with Cenozoic fossils. The teeth were largely consistent in size and shape with only minor differences throughout the jaws (homodont) except for the smaller pterygoid teeth. [11][50] The scapula and humerus are fan-shaped and wider than tall. [125], Known fossils of Mosasaurus have typically been recovered from deposits representing nearshore habitats during the Cretaceous period, with some fossils coming from deeper-water deposits. Replying to @Nick 'Why Mosasaurus solos Megalodon is because Mosa has a lot of Bite Force' . [129], One enigmatic occurrence of Mosasaurus sp. A lion can exert 600 psi, and jaguar can exert 2000 psi. [16][17][18] This caught the attention of French revolutionaries, who looted the fossil following the capture of Maastricht during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1794. Unfortunately for Mosasaurus, few animals match Megalodon when it comes to sheer bite force. [9][11][42][63] The number of teeth in the maxillae, pterygoids, and dentaries vary between species and sometimes even individualsM. However, there are differences in tooth spacing between both bites which indicate different jaw sizes. [11] In 2004, Eric Mulder, Dirk Cornelissen, and Louis Verding suggested M. lemonnieri could be a juvenile form of M. hoffmannii based on the argument that significant differences could be explained by age-based variation. Fossil evidence suggests Mosasaurus inhabited much of the Atlantic Ocean and the seaways adjacent to it. Teeth were constantly shed through a process where the replacement tooth developed within the root of the original tooth and then pushed it out of the jaw. [97][98] Microanatomical studies on bones of juvenile Mosasaurus and related genera have found that their bone structures are comparable to adults. [90] Likewise, an M. missouriensis skeleton has a tooth from another M. missouriensis embedded in the lower jaw underneath the eye. Answer: Certainly stronger than any land animal alive today, but compared to other predatory dinosaurs in it's size class it was probably somewhere in the mid tier. Its four limbs were shaped into robust paddles to steer the animal underwater. [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. 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. I mean it hunted Ammonites, who have shells definite harder than shark skin. So i eawnna know the truth now. [30] The same year, Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer suspected that the skull and Harlan's snout were part of the same individual. Plotosaurini paleogeographic occurrences", "Hermann Schlegel's investigation of the Maastricht mosasaurs". [41][42], Scientists during the early and mid-1800s initially imagined Mosasaurus as an amphibious marine reptile with webbed feet and limbs for walking. Mosasaurus gave its name to a group of marine lizards - Mosasaurs. Why are there still bozos thinking Mosa has a stronger f**king bite force than Megalodon?! [9], Interactive skeletal reconstruction of M. hoffmannii Contrary to Russell (1967),[38] Bell also recovered Mosasaurus in a sister relationship with another group which included Globidens and Prognathodon, and M. maximus as a sister species to Plotosaurus. This result indicated that M. hoffmannii and M. lemonnieri are not in the same genus. 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. The foramina along the snout form a pattern similar to the foramina in Clidastes skulls. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. [22] Richard Ellis speculated in 2003 that this may have been the earliest discovery of the second species M. missouriensis,[23] although competing speculations exist. At the time, Europe was a scattering of islands with most of the modern continental landmass being underwater. [96], It is likely that Mosasaurus was viviparous (giving live birth) like most modern mammals today. Mosasaurus was a common large predator in these oceans and was positioned at the top of the food chain. Mosasaurus means 'Meuse lizard', referring to the river near which it was first found. 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. This is one indication of niche partitioning, where the two mosasaur genera likely foraged in different habitats or had different specific diets to coexist without direct competitive conflict. [11] The ilium is rod-like and slender; in M. missouriensis, it is around 1.5 times longer than the femur. [5][85][102] During the Late Cretaceous, these regions made up the three seaways inhabited by Mosasaurus: the Atlantic Ocean, the Western Interior Seaway, and the Mediterranean Tethys. Megalodon was 63 feet. This concept was revolutionary at the time and helped support the then-developing ideas of extinction. conodon. fossils is in the Hornerstown Formation, a deposit typically dated to be from the Paleocene Danian age, which was immediately after the Maastrichtian age. The radius and ulna are short, but the former is taller and larger than the latter. [50], Brain casts made from fossils of Mosasaurus show that the olfactory bulb and vomeronasal organ, which both control the function of smell, are poorly developed and lack some structures in M. hoffmannii; this indicates the species had a poor sense of smell. This was likely a severe bone infection initiated by septic arthritis, which progressed to the point where a large portion of the quadrate was reduced to abscess. In this case, there were signs of healing around the wound, implying survival of the incident. Separate studies involving multiple Mosasaurus specimens have yielded consistently low 13C levels of tooth enamel, indicating that Mosasaurus fed in more offshore or open waters. At least two species of Mosasaurus have been described, but the true number of species is unknown as remains are often fragmentary and specimens are described in open nomenclature. While in the past derived mosasaurs were depicted as akin to giant flippered sea snakes, it is now understood that they were more similar in build to other large marine vertebrates such as ichthyosaurs, marine crocodylomorphs, and archaeocete whales through convergent evolution. Tylosaurus was the third new genus of mosasaur to be described from North America behind Clidastes and Platecarpus and the first in Kansas. The neurocranium housed a brain which was narrow and relatively small compared to other mosasaurs. In 1808, naturalist Georges Cuvier concluded that it belonged to a giant marine lizard with similarities to monitor lizards but otherwise unlike any known living animal. This was confirmed in 2004. conodon. grand canyon dories hurricane, utah; jo joyner waterloo road; fitbit charge 5 clock faces; marvel stadium level 1 seating The mosasaur bit the shell up to sixteen times, the paleontologists determined, and the damage probably "disengaged the muscles by which the body of the ammonite was held in the shell", leaving. M. hoffmannii and Prognathodon sectorius were the dominant species in the northern province. The size of their jaws would have made them predators of smaller sea animals than the megalodon. [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. 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. The dinosaur had a maximum bite force of some 3.1 metric tons, "greater than for a living white shark, but puny compared to 'Big Tooth,'" Wroe said. [21][b] Cuvier later designated the second skull as the new species' holotype (defining example). [50], Mosasaurus swam using its tail. [112] Some Niobraran genera such as Tylosaurus,[115] Cretoxyrhina,[116] hesperornithids,[117] and plesiosaurs including elasmosaurs such as Terminonatator[118] and polycotylids like Dolichorhynchops[119] maintained their presence until around the end of the Campanian, during which the entire Western Interior Seaway started receding from the north. [9] These problems were addressed in Street's 2016 thesis in an updated phylogenetic analysis. From an ecological standpoint, Mosasaurus probably had a profound impact on the structuring of marine ecosystems; its arrival in some locations such as the Western Interior Seaway in North America coincides with a complete turnover of faunal assemblages and diversity. [50][36] Rather, M. hoffmannii likely employed inertial feeding (in which the animal thrusts its head and neck backward to release a held prey item and immediately thrust the head and neck forward to close the jaws around the item[78]) and used jaw adduction to assist in biting during prey seizure. [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. Spinosaurus is larger than the T-Rex, but the T-Rex has a far deadlier bite. [114][121], Mosasaurus is known from late Maastrichtian deposits in the Antarctic Peninsula, specifically the Lpez de Bertodano Formation in Seymour Island. He clarified that earlier interpretations of claws were erroneous and demonstrated how the phalanges show no indication of muscle or tendon attachment, which would make walking impossible. [112][103][113], In what is now Alabama within the Southern Interior Subprovince, most of the key genera including sharks like Cretoxyrhina and the mosasaurs Clidastes, Tylosaurus, Globidens, Halisaurus, and Platecarpus disappeared and were replaced by Mosasaurus. Who Would Win Mosasaurus Vs Spinosaurus? [84][122] Mosasaurus appears to be the most diverse mosasaur in the Maastrichtian Antarctica. 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. Purussaurus ~69,000 Newton's. Tyrannosaurus-Rex ~35,000 Newton's. Giganotosaurus ~ 35,500 Newton's. Mapusaurus ~ 31,000 Newton's. The T-Rex has the strongest bite force of any land animal but the megalodon is the king of all bites, on water or land. Several fossils document deliberate attacks on Mosasaurus individuals by members of the same species. bite force of a liger is 900. [112] The faunal structure of both provinces was generally much more diverse prior to the appearance of Mosasaurus, during a faunal stage known as the Niobraran Age, than it was during the following Navesinkan Age. Lingham-Soliar may have misapplied the ratio. [37] At least four other mosasaur genera have been reported in Antarctica, including Plioplatecarpus, the mosasaurines Moanasaurus and Liodon,[85] and Kaikaifilu. 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. These environments were dominated by mosasaurs and marine side-necked turtles. [50][61] Tylosaurus bernardi, the only surviving species of the genus during the Maastrichtian, measured up to 12.2 meters (40ft) in length[127] while the largest coexisting species of Prognathodon like P. saturator exceeded 12 meters (39ft). The exact year is not fully certain due to multiple contradicting claims. [48][70] Mosasaurus, along with mosasaur genera Eremiasaurus, Plotosaurus,[71] and Moanasaurus[m][73] traditionally form a tribe within the Mosasaurinae variously called Mosasaurini or Plotosaurini. There is considerable morphological variability across the currently-recognized species in Mosasaurusfrom the robustly-built M. hoffmannii to the slender and serpentine M. lemonnieribut an unclear diagnosis (description of distinguishing features) of the type species M. hoffmannii led to a historically problematic classification. 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%. However, it is possible that such specimens may actually represent Moanasaurus, although this depends on the outcome of a pending revision of the genus. [55] Paul (2022) offered a larger maximum estimate for the species at 12 meters (39ft) in length and 4.5 metric tons (5.0 short tons) in body mass. [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. Mosasaurus was a predator possessing excellent vision to compensate for its poor sense of smell, and a high metabolic rate suggesting it was endothermic ("warm-blooded"), an adaptation only found in mosasaurs among squamates. 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. [10] In M. missouriensis, the bar is robust and does not constrict. [42] The number of prisms in Mosasaurus teeth can slightly vary between tooth types and general patterns differ between species[g]M. [38] In a 2000 study, Lingham-Soliar refuted this based on a comprehensive study of existing M. lemonnieri specimens,[36] which was corroborated by a study on the M. conodon skull by Takehito Ikejiri and Spencer G. Lucas in 2014. Two examples include IRSNB R25 and IRSNB R27, both having fractures and other pathologies in their dentaries. [14][18], After its seizure, the second skull was sent to the National Museum of Natural History, France in 1795 and later cataloged as MNHN AC 9648. 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. [76] In 2014, Konishi and colleagues expressed a number of concerns with the reliance on Bell's study. 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 rigid but highly shock-absorbent structure of the cranium likely allowed a powerful bite force. Another five species still nominally classified within Mosasaurus are planned to be reassessed in a future study. 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. 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? Bite force than tall including tropical, subtropical, temperate, and jaguar can exert 2000.! 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