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Mosasaurs
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Mosasaur is a generic name for a group of approximately 78 related species of sea going reptiles. Some species only grew as big as 17 feet in length while others could be as long as 56 feet long. Although they flourished in the late cretaceous period, at the same time as dinosaurs, they are not dinosaurs. These sea-going reptiles were powerful swimmers with short paddle like like limbs and were well adapted for life in shallow seas. They were carnivores and breathed air. Impressions of the mosasaur skin in the fossil record indicates that they may have had a scaly skin like a snake. They are distantly related to present day monitor lizards, such as the komodo dragon, and snakes. They had a jaw similar to snakes that could dislocate so their mouth could open wider to swallow their prey whole. The name "mosasaur" means "Meuse lizard". They were name for the Meuse River in the Netherlands where mosasaur fossils was first found in 1780. Mosasaur fossils have been found at Coon Creek Science Center. Come and visit us at to learn the stories behind our mosasaur finds! Cleaning the Mosasaur fossil found at Coon Creek in 1989. Mosasaur vertebrae found in the creek in 2000
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