Mosasaurs thrived near the end of the Cretaceous period in the warm, shallow sea that covered Mississippi, an ecosystem rich with marine predators, sharks, and flying reptiles. STARKVILLE, Miss. — ...

MSU researchers, both MGS geologists, help unearth giant mosasaur fossil near campus From left, Jonathan Leard and Tim Palmer, both Mississippi State doctoral researchers and geologists with the ...

The vertebrae likely belonged to a mosasaur that was at least 30 feet long. Credit: James Starnes / MDEQ “This is a big animal. The maximum [weight] is about 20,000 pounds,” explained Starnes.

Mosasaurs were a diverse group of marine reptiles, with some species reaching up to 50 feet (15 meters) in length. The discovered vertebra, measuring over 7 inches (18 cm) wide, suggests this mosasaur ...

T. rex, a contemporary of mosasaurs, may have dominated on land, but mosasaurs were one of the fiercest creatures of the seas. Finding a 66 million-year-old fossil in Mississippi ...

Each mosasaur tooth corresponds to a pit in the jaw. “Even if the fossil is very poor quality, you can still count the correct number of teeth by counting the number of these pits,” he says.

In 2021, scientists identified a new mosasaur species upon the discovery of a Cretaceous-period jaw with unusual teeth in a Moroccan mine. There’s only one problem—the remains may have been ...

The mythical dragons of folklore that spew fire and dwell on mountaintops have enthralled audiences for ages, but now scientists can tell the tale of a real-life “dragon” — a mosasaur called the ...

Researchers said they had discovered a new line of mosasaur, a giant sea-dwelling creature that lived alongside the dinosaurs. Its name, Jormungandr walhallaensis, draws on Norse mythology.

A new species of mosasaur — Jormungandr walhallaensis — is unusual, displaying a mix of traits from other creatures of its kind. Challenging what’s known about these ancient giants, it could ...