First Freshwater Mosasaurs Species Discovered By the Researchers

Researchers discovered the fossilised bones of new species of mosasaurs in Hungary in the third week of December 2012. The fossilised bones are those of mosasaurs species which were thought as the marine animals initially. New findings proved that the 84 million years old sea monsters lived in freshwaters. These reptiles were present in the period when dinosaurs existed and were known as T.Rex of sea. The study established the fact that these were the first freshwater mosasaurs discovered. First fossil ruins of the large specimen were also found in 1764 in Maastricht.

The fossils were picked up from the open ditch in Bakony Hills, Western Hungary and they ranged from those of infants to adults. These fossils displayed some unique characteristics which were not archetypical to mosasaurs family. The fossils hinted towards the fact that this species contained limbs which were like those of terrestrial lizard and flattened skull which resembled crocodile. It also had a tail.

The details were presented after the study conducted by Laszlo Makadi of the Hungarian Natural History Museum together with the University of Alberta, Canada colleagues.  An expert in mosasaurs species as well as the co-author of this study, Michael Caldwell described that fossil examinations indicated clearly that the newly discovered species was not identical like the rest of the mosasaur species. Therefore, the new species was called Pannoniasaurus. It was found that this species was larger than T.Rex and also they did not share the same ancestor.

The researchers declared that size of the Pannoniasaurus made them largest-known predators in paleo-environment waters.
 
What are mosasaurs?

Mosasaurs basically are the huge marine reptiles which are extinct now. First fossil ruins of mosasaurs were found in 1764 in Maastricht. Mosasaurs evolved from the squamates, semi-aquatic species which are quite identical to the monitor lizards found today.