20 Mosasaurus Questions and Answers
The Mighty Mosasaurus Ruled the oceans during the time the T-Rex ruled the land. It was a very large ocean predator that could reach over 40ft long.
it became even more popular after saving the day in the Jurassic World movie and although there was certainly some exaggeration of how big the mosasaurus could grow, it brought them to a whole new audience.
We have 20 questions and answers about the mosasaurus below for you to check out and learn from. We also have loads more facts and answers on this, and other dinosaurs on the site with activities resources and printable for you to check out.
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So if it wasn’t a dinosaur what exactly was this massive ocean predator? We answer this and give you other facts in our list of mosasaurus facts for kids below.
We also have a printable fact sheet for you to collect on this page and you can collect this with the others we have on our fact pages around the site.
20 Mosasaurus Questions and Answers
Was Mosasaurus a Dinosaur?
Mosasaurus was not a dinosaur, Although it did live at the same time as other dinosaurs, The Mosasaurus was a marine reptile. with its huge size, appearance and when it lived it is easy to see why people might mistake it for a dinosaur.
Although Dinosaur does actually mean terrible lizard, dinosaurs as a rule are not that closely related to lizards! The mosasaurus, somewhat ironically, is! So the “Saur” at the end of its name is actually more accurate than most other named dinosaurs that include “saur”
What did the Mosasaurus look like?
The mosasaurus had a short, wide body and a long, thin tail. It was a powerful swimmer and could hold its breath for extended periods of time. We have some images on this page for you to see. It looked like a cross between a crocodile, a lizard and a shark.
Why was the Mosasaurus Mouth Special?
The mosasaurus had a hinged lower jaw, which allowed it to open its mouth very wide. This made it an effective predator and scavenger.Its teeth were conical and serrated, perfect for seizing and slicing through prey. This was by design as most prey would have been swallowed whole, or ripped and shook into pieces that were able to be swallowed whole.
How Long was the Mosasaurus?
The Mosasaurus was certainly big it is estimated to be from 36 feet to 59 feet long. The have measured this by estimating that the body of the mosasaurus was 7-10 times longer than the skulls they have found. However there were smaller Mosasaurus that could be about a metre long.
Did the Mosasaurus Lay Eggs?
It is believed that the mosasaurus gave birth to live young, rather than laying eggs. They were very adapted to ocean life so the general thought is, even though they breathed air, they didn’t go on to beaches and lay eggs like turtles do now.
however, recently they have found unknown eggs that have a marine reptile embryo ( baby) inside and they are researching whether this theory is correct.
When was the First Mosasaurus discovered?
The first mosasaurus fossils were discovered in 1764. That makes this one of the early dinosaurs to be discovered. However it did not receive its name until much later in 1822.
When did the Mosasaurus Live?
The mosasaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 88 to 65 million years ago, It was one of, if not, the apex predator of its time, in the ocean at least.
What did the name Mosasaurus mean?
As we mention in our mosasaurus facts article. The name Mosasaurus, means “Lizard of the Meuse River”. Mosa means meuse in latin, and saurus means lizard in greek. the fossils of the mosasaurus were first found next to this river in the Netherlands in a limestone quarry in 1764.
Were all Mosasaurus big?
Not all Mosasaurus were big, some were just 1 metre long however others are estimated to be up to 59 feet long! (almost 20 metres) although most have been found to be under 40ft long.
How many Teeth did Mosasaurus have?
Mosasaurus has between 40 to 50 sharp, cone-shaped teeth that were perfect for grabbing and holding prey in the water.
How Long were Mosasaurus Teeth?
Mosasaurus had plenty of teeth in it long mouth. These teeth were about 2-3 inches long, and the a large tooth would be over 4 inches long. It is possible to buy mosasaurus teeth as fossils quite cheaply.
They can be bought for just a few dollars for the small ones. You can check out some on the link below.
Where are Mosasaurus found?
Fossil remains have been found all over the world including in: Africa, Europe, North America, South America and even Antarctica! As it was an ocean going predator it could move around much easier than land based animals and clearly did so!
How Big was the Mosasaurus in Jurassic World.
The mosasaurus in Jurassic world was really much larger than any that have been found by far. it would have been about 100 feet long in the movie, which means as long as a blue whale. Later it seems to be even bigger and maybe 130 ft long!
Its mouth was biggest than a great white shark, and then it had enough power to flip the indominus Rex into the lagoon! A real Mosasaurs was much smaller!
What did Mosasaurus eat?
The mosasaurus ate almost anything that swam in the sea. When fossils have been found of mosasaurus with birds, other mosasaurus, marine reptiles, sharks, and more inside. being one of the Parex predators of the era it bascially ate what it wanted.
It appears , like many of us, Mosasaurus loved to eat shellfish it seems. Many shells of Ammonites, a large mollusc, are found with circular holes on the sides that are just like the teeth of mosasaurus.
How Much did the Mosasaurus Weigh
Scientists seem to focus on the length rather than the weight of the mosasaurus however wiki has this large ocean predator at up to 14000 kg, which is upto 28000 lbs. The debate on how heavy mosasaurus were is because we are not sure how bulky, and how much muscle and fat these animals had.
Did Mosasaurus breathe Air?
The mosasaurus did breathe air, it is thought that it could not move on land though, so would have breathed like whales and crocodiles today.
How to Pronounce Mosasaurus?
Dinosaur names can be hard to say. The word ‘Mosasaurus’ has 4 syllables and you pronounce it like this as mos-a-sore-us
When Did Mosasaurs Go Extinct?
Mosasaurus went extinct at the same time as the majority of other dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
When did Mosasaurus get its Name?
William Daniel Conybeare gave it the name Mosasaurus in 1822. It is named after the area it was found in the Netherlands, near the Meuse River.
Could The Mosasaurus walk on land.
Even though it looks a little like a Crocodile or a monitor lizard, the mosasaurus is unlikely to be able to walk on land. It was evolved to live in water, and on land, luckily for other dinosaurs, i would not be able to move.
How Big was a Mosasaurus Head?
Mosasaurus had a head around 3 to 5 ft long and scientists state that it would be about 10% of its body length.
Conclusion
The Mosasaurs were certainly impressive animals. 40 teeth, 40 feet long and a big appetite! Hopefully there are some useful answer to your questiona bout the mosasaurus here on this page and don’t forget to check out the mosasaurus facts for kids article to find out even more about the massive mosasaurus!
We also have loads more articles on dinosaurs, Free printables and more on these pages as well!
Some of My Dinosaur Resource Recommendations for Home and School.
Thanks for taking the time to read our facts and questions articles, as a teacher myself i have struggled to find resources in one place and that is why this website was born. I simply love teaching students about dinosaurs both in my role as a language and General Studies teacher. However there is sometimes a need for something more concrete than a printout (as useful as we think ours are! )
There is something awesome about the feeling of awe that these amazing creatures instil in our children and students. To further help you, and potentially me, i have included a few resources below that i have found to be incredibly successful when explaining dinosaurs to children, these range form books and resources, to toys fossils and dinosaur figures.
Sometimes having something tactile to touch in those tiny hands help to focus and cement learning and develop those big brains! Hope they are helpful too.
Dinosaur Books and Readers
There are of course hundreds of excellent, and not so excellent books on Dinosaurs for Children out there. So rather than, yet, go into huge detail. I will highlight the ones I love to use with my students from ages 6 to 10. We have include AR in these as well. ( nothing quite like a moving dinosaur in front of you!
Fossil Sets
I cant say how great these are to use in a classroom while reading with a group. the chance to read about a dinosaur and then touch a real piece is simply great. I have a selection ( self confessed dinosaur geek) but a cheap set of 10 or so will do the trick just as well. Dinosaur poop is great as well!!! i pass it round and ask them to guess what it is first!
Dinosaur Figures
I actually use realia in a lot of classes especially with animals and dinosaurs, and figures help to show the kind of animal we are reading about. It is possible to spend hundreds of dollars on dinosaur figures but ther eis no need, either as a teacher or a parent. The set below and similar we have used to help students picture dinosaurs to great effect.
Hi, I am Roy Ford a General Studies and English Teacher who has taught all over the world. What started as a fossil collection became a great way to teach, motivate and inspire students of all ages and all over the world about dinosaurs and from that and children’s love of dinosaurs came the site dinosaur facts for kids, a resource for all ages.
