Here’s an upper jaw of a mosasaur (upside-down for the picture) where you can see the REAL (left two arrows) and ALTERED (right two arrows) orientations of the replacement teeth.

They help us to identify popular products and understand your browsing habits so we can display relevant adverts to you. Mosasaurs were equipped with robust jaws capable of swinging back and forth and had strong muscles capable of powerful bites using dozens of large teeth designed for cutting prey. Not only are our fossils magnificent to look at, these creatures also had complex and diverse biology, behaviour and lifestyles.While this arrangement probably allowed a Mosasaur to swallow prey whole, the alignment of a Mosasaur's teeth with "bony crypts" to protect emerging teeth also suggests Mosasaurs likely crushed bones as frequently as they tore into flesh. This theory is especially plausible given the body size to flipper size ratio of mosasaurs that would make it extremely difficult for them to leave water and lay eggs like sea turtles do. The teeth of mammals and crocs aren’t just slotted into holes in the jaws, but are suspended in bony sockets that are actually formed by the tooth itself! This would be more efficient method of locomotion for the large body plan of mosasaurs and make ambush hunting more plausible. Mosasaurs would gulp down partially chewed prey, which is quite beneficial for scientists interested in the mosasaur diet.

All of this evidence points quite clearly to ambush hunting and until new evidence arises that seems the most plausible. It makes clear sense to me now as I saw a lot of mosasaur jaw fakes around and this lead me to think that the tooth might also be fake! Caldwell (2007): Ontogeny, anatomy and attachment of the dentition in mosasaurs (Mosasauridae: Squamata).v=1638890853","width":768},{"alt":null,"id":5806635745363,"position":10,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":1. That being said, I think it’s now safe to say that mosasaur teeth didn’t form in the same weird way as they do in snakes.

With the extinction of the ichthyosaurs and decline of plesiosaurs, mosasaurs diversified to become prolific apex predators in nearly every habitat of the oceanic world. As I’ve mentioned before, most reptiles continually replace their teeth throughout their lives, and mosasaurs were no exception. The Small and Medium size teeth are enclosed in a handsome, glass-topped riker box case measuring 4 1/2" x 3 1/2". Ammonites were especially crunchy mosasaur treats, with some genera evolving specialized teeth for crushing cephalopod shells (Igdamanosaurus). Many paleontologists believe that mosasaurs gave birth to live young, or hatched their eggs internally, like many snake species today.v=1638890853","width":1200},{"alt":null,"id":623504261155,"position":16,"preview_image":{"aspect_ratio":1. The movie mosasaur was over double the length of the largest recorded mosasaur remains and is completely unsupported by fossil evidence, though it makes for a titanic on-screen visual piece. This is supported by the idea that they used their powerful tail flukes for extra thrust to dart out and swallow unsuspecting prey.