mosasaur

English

Mosasaur skull

Etymology

From scientific Latin Mosasaurus (genus name).

Noun

mosasaur (plural mosasaurs)

1. A large extinct marine reptile in the family †Mosasauridae, dominant marine predator of the Cretaceous. Mosasaurs are considred to be in squmata, the same group that includes lizards and snakes.[from c. 1840]
   • 2007 February 14, “The Case of the Creationist Geologist (5 Letters)”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     What I find deeply disturbing, however, is that Mr. Ross could believe that the earth was created 10,000 years ago, but nevertheless write in his dissertation that mosasaurs, or marine reptiles, existed more than 65 million years ago.

   • 2012, Winand Brinkmann, Kenneth De Baets, editors, Paleontological Museum of the University of Zürich: Exhibition Guide, Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zürich, →ISBN, page 70:

     Mosasaurs could reach lengths of up to 17m and lived mainly in offshore waters of the Late Cretaceous.

Related terms

• mosasaurian
• mosasaurid
• mosasaurine
• mosasauroid

Translations

extinct marine reptile in family Mosasauridae

• Italian: mosasauro
• Spanish: mosasáurido m, mosasaurio (es) m

See also

• mosasaur on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mosasauridae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies