Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a neck, the mosasaurs retained distinct head tegions set apart ftom the body
by a strong, if short, neck. The head itself was out of some nightmate. Flat
and narrow with a long, tapering snout, its most distinguishing characteris-
tic was the numerous teeth. The jaws, like those of most vertebrate animals,
were lined above and below with numerous dagger-like teeth. But the palate
bones had teeth as well, a second set also conical and tapering well back in
the roof of the mouth. Clearly, these were creatures evolved to bite. Finally,
there is the matter of the tongue. All ptesent-day monitor lizards have a
forked tongue, like a snake's. In all probability the mosasaurs of the ancient
world were similarly endowed. No wonder these cteatures are favorites of
illustrations depicting the Mesozoic seaways, for here is a monster every bit
as frightful as any T.
rex
or any of the vermin emerging from the imagination
of H. P. Lovecraft. Imagine some sort of odious (but spectacular) gladiatorial
combat between mosasaurs and killer whales of our world or between a
mosasaur and a great white shark. I would bet on the mosasaurs.
Why did the lizard-ancestors of the mosasaurs go back into the sea?
Why abandon the rich, tropical rainforests of the Mesozoic Era, a time when
Ichthyosaurus communis
Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus
Fossil Ichthyosaur
(above)
and Plesiosaur
(below)
of Jurassic Age.
