‖ Mosasaurus Palæont.
(məʊsəˈsɔːrəs)
Also Moso-, Mosæ-. Pl. -i.
[mod.L. (W. D. Conybeare), f. L. Mosa the river Meuse or Maas + Gr. σαῦρος lizard.]
A genus of large extinct marine reptiles, combining the characters of a saurian reptile with those of a snake. It was first discovered near Maestricht (on the Meuse) in 1780.
| 1830 Morton in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XVII. 289 Mosasaurus. 1833 Mantell Geog. S. E. Eng. 146 The Mososaurus, or Fossil Monitor of Maestricht. 1836 Buckland Geol. & Min. xiv. §7 (1837) I. 215 The Mosasaurus. 1875 C. Maclaren in Encycl. Brit. I. 679/2. |
Hence ˈmosasaur, a reptile of the genus Mosasaurus. mosaˈsaurian a., of or pertaining to the mosasaurus; belonging to the sub-order Mosasauria; n., a reptile of this sub-order. mosaˈsaurid, a reptile of the family Mosasauridæ. mosaˈsauroid a., having the form or characters of a mosasaurus; n., a mosasauroid reptile.
| 1841 Owen in Brit. Assoc. Rep. (1842) 60 The shape of the tooth thus approximates very closely to that of the Mosasaur. 1850 ― in F. Dixon Geol. & Fossils Sussex 384 They demonstrate another Mosasaurian character. Ibid. 385 That genus of Mosasauroid Lizards. 1877 ― in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XXXIII. 690 The type of the genus and family of Mosasauroids. 1878 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. July 92 In the single occipital condyle and the composite structure of the mandible the Mosasaurians are Reptilian. Ibid. Oct. 341 Since then [1851] Prof. O. C. Marsh has published a reconstruction of the fore limb of the Mosasauroid Lestosaurus simus. 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., Mosasaurid. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VII. 474/1 Suborder Lacertilia... The group..includes modern lizards..and extinct marine mosasaurs (Cretaceous). 1968 A. S. Romer Procession of Life xi. 195 The mosasaurs..had a long, flexible trunk and a highly developed tail, and hence were able to use body and tail undulation for forward progression in somewhat fish-like fashion. 1971 Nature 15 Jan. 172/1 In a great many aquatic and marine reptiles, past and present, ichthyosaurs..mosasaurs..the external nares are just in front of the eyes. |