mosasaur

noun

mo·​sa·​saur ˈmō-zə-ˌsȯr How to pronounce mosasaur (audio)
: any of a family (Mosasauridae) of very large extinct marine fish-eating lizards of the Upper Cretaceous with limbs modified into paddles that are related to the recent monitor lizards

Examples of mosasaur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Although mosasaurs did not survive past the K-Pg event, their story has not fizzled out. Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 22 Dec. 2023 Eustace also had a shorter tail than many other mosasaurs, and flippers with less cartilage and more bone. Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 29 Nov. 2023 What the researchers discovered is that this animal shares some traits with an earlier form of mosasaur known as Clidastes and other traits with a later mosasaur known as Mosasaurus. Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 30 Oct. 2023 Meet Jorgie the mosasaur The new mosasaur was described Monday in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 30 Oct. 2023 This mosasaur, a predator that must have terrorized the Cretaceous marine community, had some interesting dental work. Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2023 Gargantuan creatures swam through these waters, including a sea turtle the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, aquatic reptiles called mosasaurs and snaggletoothed fish as large as great white sharks, wrote Jack Tamisiea for Hakai Magazine in 2021. Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Aug. 2023 The bone had come from a large mosasaur, and further examination of the site turned up part of a mosasaur’s jaw. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Nov. 2021 The fossil of an 85-million-year-old mosasaur was discovered in Kansas in October 2018. Chris Ciaccia, Fox News, 8 Oct. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mosasaur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

New Latin Mosasaurus, from Latin Mosa the river Meuse + Greek sauros lizard

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mosasaur was in 1841

Dictionary Entries Near mosasaur

Cite this Entry

“Mosasaur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosasaur. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mosasaur

noun
mo·​sa·​saur ˈmō-zə-ˌsȯr How to pronounce mosasaur (audio)
: any of various very large extinct fish-eating lizards of seas of the Cretaceous period with limbs resembling paddles
Etymology

from Latin Mosa "the River Meuse" and Greek sauros "lizard"

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