Is Mauisaurus a dinosaur?
Mauisaurus was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile. It was not a dinosaur, though it coexisted with many dinosaurs. The first Mauisaurus fossil was discovered in 1874.
Where did Mauisaurus live?
New Zealand
Mauisaurus (“Māui lizard”) is a dubious genus of plesiosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now New Zealand.
What is the biggest plesiosaur?
Elasmosaurus
Plesiosaurs. The longest known plesiosauroid was Elasmosaurus at 14 metres (46 feet) long.
How large is a mosasaurus?
Even for a prehistoric marine reptile, 40-80 meters is absurdly big. That said, the real Mosasaurus was indeed a large animal, with the biggest specimen known estimated to be around 17 meters or 56 feet long (Grigoriev, 2014).
Where did the plesiosaurs live?
Plesiosaurs had a wide distribution in European seas and around the Pacific Ocean, including Australia, North America, and Asia.
How was the Mauisaurus haasti described?
Mauisaurus haasti was described by Hector in 1877 based on eight specimens and diagnosed by its cervical vertebrae and a humerus with large tuberosities. However, of these eight specimens, two, consisting of ribs and paddle, were lost, while another, the cast of a jaw fragment (the original fossil of which was also lost) was found to be a mosasaur.
How many vertebrae does a Mauisaurus have?
At 68 cervical vertebrae, Mauisaurus is notable for having one of the longest necks (in terms of vertebra number) of any plesiosaur. Mauisaurus was fairly large, reaching over 8 metres (26 ft) in length.
How long is the skeleton of a mosaur?
Skeleton is 81″ long from tail to chin. Mosasaurs were ancient Marine Reptiles that lived 75-65 million years ago during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period. They went extinct during the Cretaceous Tertiary Extinction Event – the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs and 75% of all species on the planet.
What kind of animal is Mauisaurus?
(July 2014) Mauisaurus (“Maui reptile”) is a genus of plesiosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period around 77 million years ago in what is now New Zealand. It was the largest plesiosaur, and perhaps the largest marine reptile in New Zealand waters at the time.