mosasaurus bite force

The margin provided a warm-temperate climate with habitats dominated by mosasaurs and sea turtles. This enabled these monster sharks to munch . Mosasaurus ( / mozsrs /; "lizard of the Meuse River ") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. [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. [5], The palate, which consists of the pterygoid bones, palatine bone, and nearby processes of other bones, is tightly packed to provide greater cranial stability. Please consider to SUBSCRIBE:https://www.youtube.com/c/WildCiencias?sub_confirmation=1 For business inquiries: wil. Its tapered jaw measured around 4ft in length and could reach opening widths of around 3ft. Schlegel's hypothesis was largely ignored by contemporary scientists but became widely accepted by the 1870s when Othniel Charles Marsh and Cope uncovered more complete mosasaur remains in North America. [102] Multiple oceanic climate zones encompassed the seaways, including tropical, subtropical, temperate, and subpolar climates. Mosasaurus is a genus of mosasaur, carnivorous, aquatic lizards, somewhat resembling flippered crocodiles, with elongated heavy jaws. To give you some perspective, the average human can exert a force as great as 268 pounds per square inch (psi) using their molars. This was based on fossils like the M. missouriensis holotype, which indicated an elastic vertebral column that Goldfuss in 1845 saw as evidence of an ability to walk and interpretations of some phalanges as claws. Theagarten Lingham-Soliar suggested two reasons for this neglect. This indicates that both Mosasaurus species may have either been habitual deep-divers or repetitive divers. They do not exhibit the bone mass increase found in juvenile primitive mosasauroids to support buoyancy associated with a lifestyle in shallow water, implying that Mosasaurus was precocial: they were already efficient swimmers and lived fully functional lifestyles in open water at a very young age, and did not require nursery areas to raise their young. Lingham-Soliar may have misapplied the ratio. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. [7] Second, the studies relied on an unclean and shaky taxonomy of the Mosasaurus genus due to the lack of a clear holotype diagnosis, which may have been behind the genus's paraphyletic status. MEGALODON VS MOSASAURUS - Who Would Win? [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). Spaces within the braincase for the occipital lobe and cerebral hemisphere are narrow and shallow, suggesting such brain parts were relatively small. 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. [49][79] Its elongated paddle-like limbs functioned as hydrofoils for maneuvering the animal. The model was deliberately sculpted incomplete, which Mark Witton believed was likely to save time and money. As the proposal remains restricted to a PhD thesis, it is defined as an unpublished work per Article 8 of the ICZN and therefore is not yet formally valid. This result indicated that M. hoffmannii and M. lemonnieri are not in the same genus. 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. [11][50] The scapula and humerus are fan-shaped and wider than tall. There are two finely ulcerated scratches on the bone callus, which may have developed as part of the healing process. The study estimated that an M. hoffmannii individual with a skull measuring more than 145cm (57in) would have been up to or more than 11 meters (36ft) in length and weighed 10 metric tons (11 short tons) in body mass. [49], The forelimbs of Mosasaurus are wide and robust. The Mosasaurus is also thought to have had short arms with . [90] Likewise, an M. missouriensis skeleton has a tooth from another M. missouriensis embedded in the lower jaw underneath the eye. [129], One enigmatic occurrence of Mosasaurus sp. It's shorter by 5 m (16 ft), is about one-quarter of the megalodon's weight, and has only about half the bite power of the megalodon's bite. One partial skeleton of M. conodon bears multiple cuts, breaks, and punctures on various bones, particularly in the rear portions of the skull and neck, and a tooth from another M. conodon piercing through the quadrate bone. The 2015 Indominus roaring at the T. rex and Blue seconds before she is pulled to her death by a Mosasaurus. 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. [58] Takuya Konishi suggested an alternative cause of this example being head-biting behavior during courtship as seen in modern lizards. This was by observing the von Ebner lines, incremental marks in dentin that form daily. The eye sockets were located at the sides of the skull, which created a narrow field of binocular vision at around 28.5[50][87] but alternatively allowed excellent processing of a two-dimensional environment, such as the near-surface waters inhabited by Mosasaurus. [36] The premaxillary bar,[e] the long portion of the premaxillary bone extending behind the premaxillary teeth, is narrow and constricts near the middle in M. hoffmannii[50] and M. lemonnieri[36] like in typical mosasaurs. [21][b] Cuvier later designated the second skull as the new species' holotype (defining example). [46] Using a smaller partial jaw (NHMM 009002) measuring 90 centimeters (35in) and "reliably estimated at" 160 centimeters (63in) when complete, Lingham-Soliar (1995) estimated a larger maximum length of 17.6 meters (58ft) via the same ratio. It was hypothesized that these adaptations helped maintain resource partitioning between the two mosasaurs. 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. Lingham-Soliar described this pit as resembling a tooth mark from a possible attacking mosasaur. [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. The scientists utilized an interpretation that differences in isotope values can help explain the level of resource partitioning because it is influenced by multiple environmental factors such as lifestyle, diet, and habitat preference. These species include one comparable with M. lemonnieri, and another that appears to be closely related to M. One such bone is a quadrate (NHMM 003892) which is 150% larger than the average size, which Everhart and colleagues in 2016 reported can be extrapolated to scale an individual around 18 meters (59ft) in length. This study was conducted on only one tooth and may not represent the exact durations of, The number of caudal vertebrae is not fully certain for, Street & Caldwell (2017) revised this assessment of. [76] In 2014, Konishi and colleagues expressed a number of concerns with the reliance on Bell's study. Both of these dinosaurs have extremely powerful jaws and rows and rows of sharp teeth, though the bite force of the mosasaurus is more powerful than the bite force of the liopleurodon. This story helped elevate the fossil into cultural fame, but historians agree that the narrative was exaggerated. Many of the fossils with injuries possibly attributable to intraspecific combat are of juvenile or sub-adult Mosasaurus, leading to the possibility that attacks on smaller, weaker individuals may have been more common. [131], M. hoffmannii fossils have been found within the K-Pg boundary itself in southeastern Missouri between the Paleocene Clayton Formation and Cretaceous Owl Creek Formation. [129] Any Mosasaurus surviving the immediate cataclysms by taking refuge in deeper waters would have died out due to starvation from a loss of prey. [j][5] Street & Caldwell (2017) was derived from Street's 2016 doctoral thesis, which contained a phylogenetic study proposing the constraining of Mosasaurus into four speciesM. [50] As a result, the rear portions of the maxilla (the main tooth-bearing bone of the upper jaw) lack the dorsal concavity that would fit the nostrils in typical mosasaurs. [52] Mentioning the Penza specimen, Gregory S. Paul estimated in his 2022 book, The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles, a shorter maximum length for M. hoffmannii of 13 meters (43ft) and a body mass of 5.5 metric tons (6.1 short tons). The teeth were largely consistent in size and shape with only minor differences throughout the jaws (homodont) except for the smaller pterygoid teeth. [30], Mosasaurus was a type of derived mosasaur, or a latecoming member with advanced evolutionary traits such as a fully aquatic lifestyle. Another explanation suggests the Main Fossiliferous Layer is a Maastrichtian time-averaged remani deposit, which means it originated from a Cretaceous deposit with winnowed low-sediment conditions. A recently described fossil of the ocean-dwelling beast reveals that its bite was unlike that of any of its relatives, in the water or onshore. The swimming style was likely sub-carangiform, which is exemplified today by mackerels. [53], The skull of Mosasaurus is conical and tapers off to a short snout which extends a little beyond the frontmost teeth. The restoration was primarily informed by Richard Owen's interpretation of the M. hoffmannii holotype and the anatomy of monitor lizards, so Hawkins depicted the animal as essentially a water-going monitor lizard. [16][34] This species was re-introduced to science and formally described in 1889 by Louis Dollo based on a skull recovered by Alfred Lemonnier from a phosphate quarry in Belgium. Because soft tissue like muscles do not easily fossilize, reconstruction of the musculature was largely based on the structure of the skull, muscle scarring on the skull, and the musculature in extant monitor lizards. [61], Currently, there is only one known example of a Mosasaurus preserved with stomach contents: a well-preserved partial skeleton of a small M. missouriensis dated about 75 million years old with dismembered and punctured remains of a 1 meter (3.3ft) long fish in its gut. The morphological build of M. hoffmannii, nevertheless, was best adapted for a pelagic surface lifestyle. [7][13], In 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition discovered a now-lost fossil skeleton alongside the Missouri River, which was identified as a 45-foot (14m) long fish. has also been described. He contacted the prominent biologist Petrus Camper, and the skull gained international attention after Camper published a study identifying it as a whale. This led Mosasaurus to become a wastebasket taxon containing as many as fifty different species. [88], Carbon isotope studies on fossils of multiple M. hoffmannii individuals have found extremely low values of 13C, the lowest in all mosasaurs for the largest individuals. [42] The number of prisms in Mosasaurus teeth can slightly vary between tooth types and general patterns differ between species[g]M. [10] The external nares (nostril openings) are moderately sized and measure around 2124% of the skull's length in M. hoffmannii. The battle of Mosasaurus vs Megalodon will likely come down to which creature can deliver the more potent bite. This creates a rigid three-pivot geometric cranial structure. [128], By the end of the Cretaceous, mosasaurs were at the height of their evolutionary radiation, and their extinction was a sudden event. [24] In 1818, a fossil from Monmouth County, New Jersey became the first North American specimen to be correctly recognized as a Mosasaurus by scientists of the time. ive heard that they do then ive heard that their jaws are to small for a bite force greater than the tyrant king. The validity of some of these genera is disputed as they are primarily based on isolated teeth. M. hoffmannii and Prognathodon sectorius were the dominant species in the northern province. 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. The fossils were found in association with fossils of Squalicorax, Enchodus, and various ammonites within a uniquely fossil-rich bed at the base of the Hornerstown Formation known as the Main Fossiliferous Layer. [50], 13C is also correlated with a marine animal's feeding habitat as isotope levels deplete when habitat is farther from the shoreline, so some scientists interpreted isotope levels as a proxy for habitat preference. [97] Such fossil records, along with a total absence of any evidence suggesting external egg-based reproduction, indicates the likeliness of viviparity in Mosasaurus. It was given a boxy head, nostrils at the side of the skull, large volumes of soft tissue around the eyes, lips reminiscent of monitor lizards, scales consistent with those in large monitors like the Komodo dragon, and a flipper. [85] Other Antarctic marine reptiles included elasmosaurid plesiosaurs like Aristonectes and another indeterminate elasmosaurid. bite force of a liger is 900. Mosasaurs with lower 13C values tended to occupy higher trophic levels, and one factor for this was dietary: a diet of prey rich in lipids such as sea turtles and other large marine reptiles can lower 13C values. Mosasaurus was 40 feet. The causes of such infections are uncertain, but records of fused vertebrae in other mosasaurs suggest attacks by sharks and other predators as a possible candidate. Previous studies demonstrated that ratios of these three elements can act as a proxy for relative ocean depth of a fossil during early diagenesis without interference from biological processes, with each of the three elements signifying either shallow, deep, or fresh waters. [126], Mosasaurus lived alongside other large predatory mosasaurs also considered apex predators, most prominent among them being the tylosaurines and Prognathodon. Traditional interpretations have estimated the maximum length of the largest species, M. hoffmannii, to be up to 17.1 meters (56ft), making it one of the largest mosasaurs, although some scientists consider this an overestimation with recent estimates suggesting a length closer to 13 meters (43ft). Various partial skeletons of M. conodon, M. hoffmannii, and M. missouriensis suggest M. conodon likely had up to thirty-six dorsal vertebrae and nine pygal vertebrae; M. hoffmannii had likely up to thirty-two dorsal vertebrae and ten pygal vertebrae;[i][11][36] and M. missouriensis around thirty-three dorsal vertebrae, eleven pygal vertebrae, and at least seventy-nine caudal vertebrae. Mosasaurus faced competition with other large predatory mosasaurs such as Prognathodon and Tylosauruswhich were known to feed on similar preythough they were able to coexist in the same ecosystems through niche partitioning. [102] Mosasaurus was not well-represented: the distribution of M. beaugei was restricted to Morocco and Brazil and isolated teeth from Syria suggested a possible presence of M. lemonnieri, although M. hoffmannii also had some presence throughout the province. The fossil was delivered to Georg August Goldfuss in Bonn for research, who published a study in 1845. The positioning of both bite marks are at the direction the nautiloid's head would have been facing, indicating it was incapable of escaping and was thus already sick or dead during the attacks; it is possible this phenomenon was from a parent mosasaur teaching its offspring about cephalopods as an alternate source of prey and how to hunt one. glycys'with M. conodon and the Pacific taxa belonging to different genera and M. beaugei being a synonym[k] of M. [50] The texture of the bones is virtually identical with in modern whales, which indicates Mosasaurus possessed a high range of aquatic adaptation and neutral buoyancy as seen in cetaceans. In a 1798 narrative of this event by Barthlemy Faujas de Saint-Fond, the skull was allegedly retrieved by twelve grenadiers in exchange for an offer of 600 bottles of wine. These and other features support a large and powerful paddle-like fluke in Mosasaurus. [85] Located within the polar circle at around 65S,[104] temperatures at medium to large water depths would have been around 6C (43F) on average, while sea surface temperatures may have dropped below freezing and sea ice may have formed at times. 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. They belong to the order Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes . [36], M. lemonnieri is a controversial taxon, and there is debate on whether it is a distinct species or not. [114][121], Mosasaurus is known from late Maastrichtian deposits in the Antarctic Peninsula, specifically the Lpez de Bertodano Formation in Seymour Island. Such a trait is unique among squamates, the only known exception being the Argentine black and white tegu, which can maintain partial endothermy. The demise of the genus was likely a result of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event which also wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. [102] In certain areas such as Belgium, other Mosasaurus species like M. lemonnieri were instead the dominant species, where it's occurrences greatly outnumber those of other large mosasaurs. [38][55] He also measured the dimensions of IRSNB 3119 and recorded that the skull constituted approximately one-eleventh of the whole body. This was confirmed in 2004. [19] Cuvier's idea that there existed an animal unlike any today was revolutionary at the time, and in 1812 he proclaimed, "Above all, the precise determination of the famous animal from Maastricht seems to us as important for the theory of zoological laws, as for the history of the globe. This is shown from a fossil skull of a subadult M. hoffmannii with fractures caused by a massive concentrated blow to the braincase; Lingham-Soliar (1998) argued that this blow was dealt by a ramming attack by Tylosaurus bernardi, as the formation of the fractures were characteristic of a coordinated strike (and not an accident or fossilization damage), and T. bernardi was the only known coexisting animal likely capable of causing such damage, using its robust arrow-like elongated snout. A lion can exert 600 psi, and jaguar can exert 2000 psi. 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[88][126] Lingham-Soliar (1995) elaborated on this, finding that Maastrichtian deposits in the Netherlands with M. hoffmannii occurrences represented nearshore waters around 4050 meters (130160ft) deep. Relationships between mosasaurs and living squamates remain controversial as scientists still fiercely debate on whether the closest living relatives of mosasaurs are monitor lizards or snakes. saturator. The location of the infection may have also interfered with breathing. Many of the Mosasaurus fossils from the Main Fossiliferous Layer consist of isolated bones commonly abraded and worn, but the layer also yielded better-preserved Mosasaurus remains. [5][102] Other mosasaurs from the southern Tethyan margin include the enigmatic Goronyosaurus, the shell-crushers Igdamanosaurus and Carinodens, Eremiasaurus, four other species of Prognathodon, and various other species of Halisaurus. Identifying the animal that left bite marks in the fossilized, coiled shells of sea creatures called ammonoids kept paleontologists busy for decades. Another trait that came from Tyrannosaurus being in its gene pool was the massively strong bite force it had, . (2014) estimated that M. missouriensis may have measured up to 89 meters (2630ft) in length. A 2015 study by Rothschild and Everhart surveyed 15 Mosasaurus specimens from North America and Belgium and found cases of fused tail vertebrae in three of them. [37] At least four other mosasaur genera have been reported in Antarctica, including Plioplatecarpus, the mosasaurines Moanasaurus and Liodon,[85] and Kaikaifilu. The study also held four additional species from Pacific depositsM. fossils is in the Hornerstown Formation, a deposit typically dated to be from the Paleocene Danian age, which was immediately after the Maastrichtian age. [74] He proposed that Mosasaurus evolved from a Clidastes-like mosasaur, and diverged into two lineages, one giving rise to M. conodon and another siring a chronospecies sequence which contained in order of succession M. ivoensis, M. missouriensis, and M. Did mosasaurus actually have a stronger bite force than t rex? [129][130] The last fossils of Mosasaurus, which include those of M. hoffmannii and indeterminate species, occur up to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (K-Pg boundary). There is also evidence of aggressive interspecific combat between Mosasaurus and other large mosasaur species. [2], Distribution, ecosystem, and ecological impact. [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. An alternate explanation postulates the bite marks as from one individual mosasaur that lightly bit the nautiloid at first, then proceeded to bite again with greater force. [124] The fish assemblage of the Lpez de Bertodano Formation was dominated by Enchodus and ichthyodectiformes. M. lemmonieri had the most vertebrae in the genus, with up to around forty dorsal vertebrae, twenty-two pygal vertebrae, and ninety caudal vertebrae.
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