Fossilised Skull of Prehistoric Marine Reptile the Mosasaur

Upper Cretaceous, about 70-65 million years ago (Maastrichtian) Morocco The skull is reconstructed in good proportions with fossil pieces found in a phosphate mine in Morocco. I attach certificate of authenticity Upper Cretaceous, about 70-65 million years ago (Maastrichtian) Morocco The skull is reconstructed in good proportions with fossil pieces found in a phosphate mine in Morocco. A certificate of authenticity will be issued at the time of purchase The Mosasaurus was a huge marine reptile, only partly similar to our lizards, our crocodiles or our iguanas. In some way it was a relative of the current monitor lizards, whose largest species present in nature today is the monitor lizard or Komodo dragon. On average the Mosasaurus measured 10 meters in length, which could become 18 years in the case of the Mosasaurus Hoffmanni. The skull was truly impressive: it was elongated and flexible, could reach 2 meters in length and was equipped with a long row of sharp and curved teeth up to 10 cm long. The legs, broad and webbed, similar to those of modern ducks, made the reptile a very skilled swimmer. The long and powerful tail was also flattened so as to allow the marine reptile elegant, rapid and sinuous movements. Recent discoveries have revealed that some of the most evolved specimens had, at the end of their tails, crescent-shaped hawks like those of modern sharks, a characteristic that made swimming more stable and less serpentine. Some images that instead portray the reptile as having a dorsal crest are the result of initial incorrect fossil reconstructions. It is estimated that the Mosasaurus could have weighed up to 15 tons, a true heavyweight even compared to many dinosaurs that roamed land at the time. Mosasaurs had scaled skin that is similar to that of modern snakes, in the shape of overlapping diamonds, with some differences in texture found in different finds, perhaps the shape and size of the scales were an adaptive response to local environments. An extraordinary and very recent discovery from 2014 published in the journal Nature by J. Lindgren et al. from Lund University demonstrated that Mosasaurs had skin pigmentation similar to that of modern sharks or orcas. The presence of melanin found in the scales of the ancient marine reptile repainted it an intense black on the back and white on the belly.