The T-Rex Wasn't The Largest Cretaceous Carnivore...This Was

The T. rex is often painted as the king of dinosaurs and the cretaceous. And thanks to this title, it is sometimes regarded as being the largest predator of its era. However, despite being the largest carnivorous dinosaur, it was not actually the biggest predator to live during the cretaceous or even during its own existence, as that honor went to something much more sinister, the Mosasaurus.

If you want more ExtinctZoo 🦖:

0:00 Intro
0:55 Discovery & Misclassification
1:34 Naming
2:04 Early Reconstructions
2:36 The 5 Known Mosasaurus Species
3:00 Classification
5:35 Size
7:19 Massive Skull & Killer Teeth
8:01 Bite Force
8:46 Diet
8:54 Mosasaurus Bite Marks & Stomach Contents
9:33 Hunting Large Reptiles
9:50 Speed
10:54 Vision & Smell
11:36 Mosasaurus Vs. Mosasaurus
12:32 Cannibalism
12:54 Disease & Infections
13:18 Range & Habitat
14:21 Animals It Lived With
15:26 Competition With Other Giant Mosasaurs
16:01 Tylosaurus Attack On A Mosasaurus
16:29 Extinction And Possible Survival (for a bit)

Artwork in thumbnail by Gaëlle Seguillon

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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[Squirrelmind]

When I was a kid, I used to think that Mosasaurus was named that way because it used to part the waters… like Moses

[dillon]

I love coming across channels like this that dive deep into prehistoric life and ecology while still making everything engaging to watch. Awesome content dude.

[THETRIVIALTHINGS]

Terminonatator. "I'll never be back".

[saladinbob]

This thing brings a whole new meaning to the line "we're going to need a bigger boat".

[Crakinator]

Pretty funny how Stastasaurus is SO BIG that you can fit the entire “not a Cretaceous animal” text right on top of it 😂

[epiceducation]

How are you pronouncing all those names so easily

[pyrotron]

What about Cretaceous Pliosaurs such as Sachichasaurus or Monquiasaurus? They were similar in length (probably a bit shorter), but way bulkier than any mosasaur. And btw, Mosasaurs didn't rule during the entire Cretaceous, instead, they dominated the oceans during the last 20 million years of the cretaceous.
Nevertheless, great video

[Bearded_Ham]

It's terrifying to think of a Monitor the size of a Mosasaurus, i used to have a Nile Monitor back in my early 20's that I took from a friend who wanted to get rid of it, it was maybe 2 feet long with it's tail and mean as hell, handling it was not fun

[ArtMares]

**a platycarpus crashes into Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc**
Doofenshmirtz: A platycarpus?
**platycarpus puts on a fedora**
Doofenschmirtz: Perry the Platycarpus?!

[pablojose]

I wish dinosaurs had easier names to remember

[travisdelafuente]

The Mosasaurus has been getting a lot of fame recently thanks to Jurassic World and rivals that of the Megalodon and the more I learn about this prehistoric predator of the seas, the more it becomes crucial that we all need to except the fact that the world was full of amazing and equally terrifying animals of the past. Bravo!

[windtalker]

Isn't it argued that snakes also evolved from monitor lizards? I believe snakes by then had already lost their feet; Mosasaurus probably evolved directly from monitor lizards and their feet evolved into fins.

[jurassicroom]

Love that Caiman Lizard color scheme for the Mosasaur in the thumbnail.

[dnKsTaH]

Everyone knows Godzilla was the largest....

[davidanderson_surrey_bc]

Steven Spielberg: My next movie will be called "Mosasaur".
Bruce the shark: You're gonna need a MUCH bigger boat.

[Misp]

I definetly prefer the new thumbnail! Even though these animals were ferocious, they still were animals which this thumbnail shows really well.

[thehairywoodsman]

“Never get out of the boat…never get out of the boat…I got to remember: never get out of the boat, ”

Chef

[REMerchant]

T Rex ruled the land. Mosasaurus, the seas.

[tomfurstyfield]

I saw shastasaurus at 7:12 and literally said out loud "what the f is that thing!" It looks like someone's scaled up a small ichthyosaur badly

[Redbeardblondie]

I think my favorite part of your videos, something I never see in other similar channels, is how you cover such a wide array of contemporary species in the area! It paints so much more of a complete and vivid picture of the ecosystem!