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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 76.185.10.9 (talk) at 01:35, 12 May 2018 (→‎weight and relative size would be useful: new section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ehm...

Why does this page exist? Mosasaurus should redirect to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosasaur

Either that, or "mosasaur" should be changed to the cprrect "mosasaurus".

Habib--83.72.194.208 15:36, 29 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's because Mosasaurus was the first genus of mosasaur discovered, much like the way all scarab beetles are named after Scarabeus beetles.
Mosasaurus has its own page for the same reason that each genus of mosasaur will eventually have their own pages, same as each genus of dinosaur. Mosasaurus is a distinct type of mosasaur, not a synonym for "mosasaur."--Nar'eth 02:09, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think the merger tag can be removed now; Nar'eth is right. Jerkov 18:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Prim mosasaur.jpg

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BetacommandBot 17:01, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Prim mosasaur.jpg

Image:Prim mosasaur.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 19:12, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Species list

Isn't the number of species in the taxobox a little improbable? Never have I seen so many recognized species (not even with Iguanodon!) for one genus. Crimsonraptor (talk) 00:20, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Quick update, seems to have been revised. Me being oblivious yet again.
Maybe I should try some coffee or something. Crimsonraptor | (Contact me) Dumpster dive if you must 20:06, 4 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Go look at Psittacosaurus. FunkMonk (talk) 05:31, 5 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
They're still finding more of those, aren't they? Crimsonraptor | (Contact me) Dumpster dive if you must 13:27, 5 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure why, but the species Mosasaurus conodon is never mentioned on here. I'm a student at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where a huge skeleton of M. conodon is mounted in our museum and have found numerous references to M. conodon elsewhere. Yet I cannot find it listed anywhere on Wikipedia. What is the deal with this species? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.123.150.2 (talk) 06:31, 11 October 2011 (UTC) --ETA: I have since found via the Paleobiology Database that the source of the name is Cope (1881), and that it has also been suggested as belonging to Clidastes. The name doesn't show up in the Clidastes article either though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.123.150.2 (talk) 06:37, 11 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

As a side note, Mosasaurus gigantea (Soemmering 1816) is a new combination by Cope (1869) for Lacerta gigantea (which is now the type species of the metriorhynchid genus Geosaurus Cuvier 1824) based on Soemmering's mistaken belief that Geosaurus belonged to the same taxon as Mosasaurus (see Young and Andrade 2009 for the taxonomic history of Geosaurus giganteus). Because Geosaurus is a metriorhynchid and not a mosasaur, Young and Andrade (2009) have advised the exclusion of L. gigantea and M. gigantea from synonymy lists for Mosasaurus hoffmani. For more information on Mosasaurus conodon, see the monumental monograph on North American mosasaurs by Russell (1967). Mosasaurus johnsoni (Mehl 1930) is a new combination for the Mexican mosasaur Amphekepubis johnsoni Mehl 1930, Mosasaurus poultneyi Martin, 1953 is a nomen ex dissertationae, Mosasaurus neovidii Meyer 1845 is a junior synonym of Mosasaurus missouriensis, and M. copeanus is now a junior synonym of Plioplatecarpus depressus (Cope 1869).

Cope CD. 1869. On the reptilian orders, Pythonomorpha and Streptosauria. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 12: 250–266. 68.4.61.168 (talk) 18:24, 14 July 2012 (UTC)Vahe Demirjian[reply]

The story of mosasaurus

The story of how these bones were studied in Haarlem is pretty interesting, and Napoleon wanted to take it to Paris. In the spirit of the current Wikipedia:GLAM/Teylers/Multilingual Challenge it would be great to promote this article to B status. Does anyone know how? Jane (talk) 18:40, 28 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Mosasaurus at 18m

In case someone here doesn't know, Lingham-Soliar (1995) is the source of the 18m Mosasaurus and this is how he came up with that estimate, from page 156:

The entire lower jaw is reliably estimated at 1600 mm. Using a 1: 10 head to body ratio (see Russell 1967, p. 210 for M. maximus) the length of the whole animal is estimated at 17.6 m, making it the largest marine reptile known.

Can anyone spot the mistake? 1.6m is 10% of 17.6m? really? not to mention that Russell (1967) suggestion of a 1:10 ratio in large mosasaurs is without basis, according to his own tables such ratio is only observed in the short snouted Platecarpus, with ratios of ~1:7-1:8 observed in the other mosasaurs, with a tendency for relatively larger heads at larger body sizes. This is further supported by Lindgren (2005) downsizing of Hainosaurus bernardi at 12.2m with a 1.6m skull (always <90% of lower jaw length). As far as I know this mistake has not been recognized in the literature and neither has Russell's 1:10 ratio been denounced as inaccurate so my suggestion is adding the quote above (followed by a [sic]) so readers can spot the mistake for themselves... maybe. Mike.BRZ (talk) 17:31, 13 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Mike.BRZ: This is interesting and I think we ought to at least point it out with a reference or note.–Totie (talk) 03:11, 4 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I can spot at least one mistake: the lenght of the lower jaw is not the same as the length of the head. That mistake is not made by Lingham-Solar but by Mike.BRZ.  Wikiklaas  23:09, 8 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Is there more information on this distinction between the two? If you compare this to the image on the right (I realise that this is not the same species; it is just to illustrate my point), then the length of the head may not be materially different from the length of the lower jaw. We cannot put original research on the article, but we can certainly add quotations.–Totie (talk) 04:16, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Lingham-Soliar cites Russell (1967), specifically page 210 and the estimate for M. maximus, there you'll find this: " given length of jaw equals 10% of body length". I'm not making any mistakes, Lingham-Soliar used the length of the lower jaw and a ratio that uses the length of the lower jaw, the only mistakes are the choice of words (using head for lower jaw) and of course that even if that ratio was accurate (it isn't) the estimate should have been 16m not 17.6m. Mike.BRZ (talk) 09:00, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, if the 10:1 ratio and the 1.6m estimate for the head/jaw are assumed to be correct then obviously this gives a total length of 16m + 1.6m = 17.6m.
Seems to make a lot more sense than assuming a calculation error...110.23.118.21 (talk) 12:09, 11 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe that is how Lingham-Soliar interpreted the ratio, one could be forgiven by thinking that's what Russell meant when reading "length of jaw equals 10% of body length" specially when Russell also uses head and jaw interchangeably but then again where does the tail factor into it? if one is to take "body length" literally it has to exclude the tail, is it 17.6m without the tail? looking at Russell tables it is clear that by "body length" he meant "total length", head+neck+trunk+tail. Mike.BRZ (talk) 15:57, 12 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Judging from the numbers (which tend to be less ambiguous than words) I'd conclude that that is what he had in mind. Not that I am saying that there aren't any other interpretations of his intention, just that this appears the most plausible. And I am certainly also not suggesting that he would be right in any way. For example, a measurement of "1600 mm" looks very suspicuious (i.e. either very lucky or technically incorrect in the precision that it indicates). 110.23.118.21 (talk) 03:55, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure if we are agreeing, I can agree that that's how Lingham-Soliar interpreted the ratio but not that that's how Russell meant it to be used. Mike.BRZ (talk) 14:52, 13 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Mosasaurus size comparison image

@Levi bernardo: According to the text, the size of the animal was at most 18 meters. Is your scale not a bit generous? Have you used any sources for this image?–Totie (talk) 03:11, 4 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

One wouldn't need a source here, other than the one given in the text (Mulder, 1999). Let's suppose the diver is a male at more or less common length, so let's say 1.7 metre. Including the fins and regarding the bended knees, that would make about 1.9 metre in total. I can fit the diver 11 times in the animal, so that would roughly make 20.9 metres. The overestimation doesn't seem to be alarming. If I were asked, I'd say the "disputed-tag" is a bit nitpicking.  Wikiklaas  22:17, 5 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Mulder (1999) does not provide a length estimate, who knows why someone added it to support that claim. Read my comment above to know about the origin of the 18m Mosasaurus, also 21m vs 18m is a big difference, is like claiming to depict a 6ft/180lbs guy but your depiction actually shows a 7ft/300lbs guy. Mike.BRZ (talk) 21:16, 7 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The comparison should be scaled to a known inflexible skeletal element of the largest specimen and then double checked against this image. Total length means nothing unless the exact proportions are given. Dinoguy2 (talk) 19:22, 8 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I replaced the disputed-tag. I overlooked that a milder form exists. Nevertheless, I still think that this matter should be discussed. Wikipedia does not allow original research and requires reliable, secondary sources for verification. If the author created this image based on just textual information and without any other supporting data to make sure that the image is at least factually solid, then I think that this is a problem. I point out that the text does not explain what this length estimate comprises. You now assume that the tail fin is included, but this is not mentioned anywhere.–Totie (talk) 04:05, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Largest described Mosasaurus lower jaw is 1.7m (Grigoriev 2014), the proportions of almost complete large specimens of Tylosaurus and Prognathodon suggest that the lower jaw is 14%-15% of the total body length. The silhouette in the size chart in question appears to be redrawn from Scott Hartman's Tylosaurus skeletal which posses such proprotions, so we either change the size to almost half of what's depicted in the image or we modify it to give it the shape of an eel. Mike.BRZ (talk) 09:15, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I removed the image now, given lack of feedback from the author.–Totie (talk) 16:15, 18 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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1954 Carnegie Report referred to M as Dinosaur

Table 3 on page 99 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington 1954 Year Book at https://archive.org/details/yearbookcarne53195354carn (historically, one of the earliest reports of original biological material in Cretaceous, etc. strata) presents "Mosasaurus (dinosaur)" alongside Stegosaur (dinosaur), Mesohippus (prehistoric horse), etc. I'm wondering for the History of Discovery section, if anyone knows if this was a "typo" at Carnegie, or if the Mosasaur was at one time considered a dinosaur by leading scientists (including P.H, Abelson, who wrote that Paleochemistry section)? Bob Enyart, Denver KGOV radio host (talk) 20:47, 30 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Although I wasn't there, my guess is that this was an error of ignorance. The article was prepared by the staff of the geochemical lab of the Institution, who may have only had a passing familiarity with the creatures that the fossils came from. (Looking at it from the other side, as someone involved in paleontology, I know beans about geophysics and slightly more about geochemistry.) "Big dead reptile = dinosaur", and all that. As it was, during the '50s the paleontology of Mesozoic reptiles did not receive a lot of professional interest or respect.
I don't know of any vertebrate paleontologist of any significance who has considered mosasaurs to be dinosaurs. Not only do mosasaurs and dinosaurs have rather different anatomies, on historical grounds the comparison would have gone the other way (dinosaurs as mosasaurs) because the famous Maastricht Mosasaurus skull had been known for decades by the time the first dinosaurs were described. However, the anatomical differences are great enough that this hasn't been entertained. J. Spencer (talk) 21:48, 30 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I would think an error like this would be either chalked up to negligence or the unfortunately popular use of "dinosaur" as a colloquialism for any large Mesozoic reptile. I mean, no one has formally contested Cuvier's identification of Mosasaurus being a true lizard in the centuries since he described, right?--Mr Fink (talk) 22:00, 30 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

weight and relative size would be useful

This is a shout out to someone who actually studies this topic.

If there are skeletons, aren't there projections of weight?

How does this size, as calculated from said skeletons, compare to a whale, to a T-Rex, to a shark, ... ? Wonderfully encyclopedic would be an illustration showing larger and smaller animals.76.185.10.9 (talk) 01:35, 12 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

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