mosasaur

[moh-suh-sawr]

noun

1. any of several extinct carnivorous marine lizards from the Cretaceous Period, having the limbs modified into broad, webbed paddles.

mosasaur

/ ˌməʊsəˈsɔːrəs, ˈməʊsəˌsɔː /

noun

1. any of various extinct Cretaceous giant marine lizards of the genus Mosasaurus and related genera, typically having paddle-like limbs

mosasaur

1. Any of various medium-sized to large extinct aquatic lizards of the family Mosasauridae of the Cretaceous Period, having modified limbs that served as paddles for swimming. Some species reached lengths of over 15 meters (50 feet).

Word History and Origins

Origin of mosasaur¹

< New Latin Mosasaurus (1823) genus name, equivalent to Latin Mosa the Meuse river (where a species was first discovered) + New Latin -saurus -saur

Word History and Origins

Origin of mosasaur¹

C18: from Latin Mosa the river _Meuse (near which remains were first found) + _-saur

Example Sentences

Skeletal replicas of the terrifying mosasaur, a Komodo Dragon relative with a six-foot jaw; the saber-toothed salmon; and other extinct species greet visitors in the museum’s entrance hall.

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Megapterygius means "large winged" in keeping with the mosasaur's enormous flippers.

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The specimen is the most complete skeleton of a mosasaur ever found in Japan or the northwestern Pacific, Konishi said.

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Researchers have described a Japanese mosasaur the size of a great white shark that terrorized Pacific seas 72 million years ago.

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University of Cincinnati Associate Professor Takuya Konishi and his international co-authors described the mosasaur and placed it in a taxonomic context in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

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