The CollectA Mosasaurus Model Video Review
The first account of a mosasaur fossil was written in 1764, so 2014 marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of this information. The fossil was found in Holland, near the town of Maastricht and here Everything Dinosaur team members contribute to the mosasaur database by publishing our video review of the excellent Mosasaurus model made by CollectA.
CollectA Mosasaurus
Everything Dinosaurs Video Review of the CollectA Mosasaurus
Video credit: Everything Dinosaur
A Video Review
CollectA made a not-to-scale replica of the mosasaur known as Tylosaurus a few years ago now, this new, larger replica brings the Mosasauridae right up to date with pterygoid teeth depicted on the roof of the mouth and a spectacular tail fluke. In this short video, (six minutes, forty-eight seconds), we point out these details and explain how this model reflects some of the latest scientific research on these amazing marine reptiles.
To view Everything Dinosaur’s range of CollectA figures: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models.
To read an article which reports on the study of a mosasaur fossil specimen that provides evidence of a tail fluke: Mosasaurs – A Shark’s Tale.
In the video, we also touch upon the chosen colour scheme of this model. It does remind us of the markings on the extant Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus), the biggest fish alive today. The largest members of the Mosasaurus genus would have grown to around the same length of a Whale Shark, perhaps fourteen metres or more, but the Whale Shark would have been many times heavier.
Whale Sharks may be gentle, slow-swimming plankton feeders but the mosasaurs were fast-swimming, predators with the likes of Mosasaurus hoffmanni, whose fossils have been found in Holland, preying on other large marine vertebrates such as plesiosaurs, large fish and turtles.
Super Colouration on this Mosasaurus Model
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
These reptiles were believed to have been predators of the surface waters. Many palaeontologists think that these animals had relatively poor, stereoscopic vision so they would have most likely avoided the darker, deeper water, preferring to hunt in the relative shallows. Whale Sharks tend to swim in the top 100 metres or so of the sea as they collect food with their huge, cavernous mouths, this might explain the colouration chosen for the Mosasaurus replica.
To read an article about the study of organic material found by Swedish scientists as they examined a Mosasaur specimen: Soft Tissue in a Mosasaur Fossil?
Recently, palaeontologists identified a species of mosasaur that lived in freshwater, to read about this discovery: Freshwater Mosasaur from Hungary.
Leave A Comment