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Mosasaur

Mosasaur. COLLEGIUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES, ECKERD COLLEGE ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA 33711. Matthias Fuell. Evolution. Mosasaur : apex predator of late Cretaceous Return to the sea during Cenomanian Evoloved from 1m, shore-dwelling lizards Highly adaptable to fill ecological niches .

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Mosasaur

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  1. Mosasaur COLLEGIUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES, ECKERD COLLEGE ST. PETERSBURG FLORIDA 33711 Matthias Fuell

  2. Evolution • Mosasaur: apex predator of late Cretaceous • Return to the sea during Cenomanian • Evoloved from 1m, shore-dwelling lizards • Highly adaptable to fill ecological niches

  3. Size and Body Shape • Long slender body shape -> resemblance of a snake • Retained front and rear limbs • Head was conical in shape and extremely long • Inefficient for high-speed swimming

  4. Locomotion • Used side-to-side movement of their tail as the ichtyosaurs • Resembled more a crocodile with paddles • Used limbs for steering and attitude control Ichtyosaur Mosasaur

  5. Feeding Adaptation • Skull: 10-14% of total body length • Mobile quadrate • Intermandibular hinge • Pterygoid teeth

  6. Viviparity • Williston (1898) and Russell (1967) argued against live birth • Bell and Sheldon (2004)-> indication of giving birth in mid-ocean • Baby mesasaurs ranged between 1 and 2m in length

  7. Work Cited Bardet, N. and C. Tunoglu. 2002. The first mosasaur (Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous of Turkey. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22(3): 712-715. Caldwell, M. W. 1999. Squamate phylogeny and the relationships of snakes and mosasaurids, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 125: 115-147 Caldwell, M. W. and M. S. Y. Lee. 2001. Live birth in Cretaceous marine lizards (mosasauroids). Proceedings: Biological Sciences 268(1484): 2397-2401 Lingham-Soliar, T. 2002. First occurrence of premaxillarycaniniform teeth in the Varanoidea: Presence in the extinct mosasaurGoronyosaurus(Squamata: Mosasauridae) and its functional and paleoecological considerations. Lethaia, 35:187-190

  8. Questions?

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