during the Cretaceous period mosasaurs
were among the oceans most fearsome and
successful predators
[Music]
mosasaurs were marine reptiles that are
thought to be closely related to snakes
and monitor lizards they were highly
adaptable in many different species
evolved and came to dominate ocean
habitats worldwide some even took to
freshwater rivers to hunt many proud the
open ocean devouring fish sharks pleasee
Azores sea turtles sea birds and
sometimes even smaller mosasaurs
mosasaur size varied greatly two of the
largest Mosasaurus worm Mosasaurus and
tylosaurus each stretch 30 to 50 feet
longer than a t-rex meanwhile many
smaller mosasaurs were no larger than a
dolphin yet most species no matter how
large or small could be characterized by
a long serpentine body with a powerful
tail which they moved side to side as
they slithered through the water
they had paddles that were likely used
for stability and large heads that had
powerful flexible jaws their jaws
contain two rows of conical teeth
designed to chomp and hold prey before
swallowing it whole the top marine
reptiles
since the Triassic had been Ixia soars
and plesiosaurs but they were in decline
when mosasaurs came onto the scene
during the Cretaceous leaving room for a
according to theory mosasaurs evolved
from terrestrial lizards that adapted to
the oceans by the middle of the
cretaceous then during the 20 to 30
million years leading up to the
extinction of the dinosaurs mosasaurs
rapidly adapted to ocean habitats the
world over we know this because fossils
have been found on every continent
including Antarctica when dinosaurs
became extinct some 65 and a half
million years ago mosasaurs vanished
from the fossil record as well
while it’s not known whether they died
off instantly or gradually one thing is
for certain the ocean has never again
seen marine reptiles as massive and as great as most stores
were among the oceans most fearsome and
successful predators
[Music]
mosasaurs were marine reptiles that are
thought to be closely related to snakes
and monitor lizards they were highly
adaptable in many different species
evolved and came to dominate ocean
habitats worldwide some even took to
freshwater rivers to hunt many proud the
open ocean devouring fish sharks pleasee
Azores sea turtles sea birds and
sometimes even smaller mosasaurs
mosasaur size varied greatly two of the
largest Mosasaurus worm Mosasaurus and
tylosaurus each stretch 30 to 50 feet
longer than a t-rex meanwhile many
smaller mosasaurs were no larger than a
dolphin yet most species no matter how
large or small could be characterized by
a long serpentine body with a powerful
tail which they moved side to side as
they slithered through the water
they had paddles that were likely used
for stability and large heads that had
powerful flexible jaws their jaws
contain two rows of conical teeth
designed to chomp and hold prey before
swallowing it whole the top marine
reptiles
since the Triassic had been Ixia soars
and plesiosaurs but they were in decline
when mosasaurs came onto the scene
during the Cretaceous leaving room for a
according to theory mosasaurs evolved
from terrestrial lizards that adapted to
the oceans by the middle of the
cretaceous then during the 20 to 30
million years leading up to the
extinction of the dinosaurs mosasaurs
rapidly adapted to ocean habitats the
world over we know this because fossils
have been found on every continent
including Antarctica when dinosaurs
became extinct some 65 and a half
million years ago mosasaurs vanished
from the fossil record as well
while it’s not known whether they died
off instantly or gradually one thing is
for certain the ocean has never again
seen marine reptiles as massive and as great as most stores
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