NormalMosasaurus
Mosasaurus hoffmannii
MOZE-ah-SORE-us· “Meuse River lizard”
🌊 Marine reptile🕰️ Cretaceous🥩 carnivore🦴 Mosasauridae
12 m
Length
2 m
Height
10 t
Weight
A giant marine lizard and apex predator of the Late Cretaceous seas, with powerful double-hinged jaws, a streamlined body and paddle-like limbs. One of the last and largest mosasaurs. A marine reptile, not a dinosaur.
When
Late Cretaceous, ~70–66 million years ago
Found in
Netherlands
Discovered
Johann Leonard Hoffmann, 1764
Did you know?
- A huge sea-going lizard — not a dinosaur — that ruled the Late Cretaceous oceans.
- Double-hinged jaws and extra teeth on the palate helped it grip large prey.
- Among the first fossil reptiles ever recognised by science, back in the 1700s.
Artwork: Dmitry Bogdanov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.