marine reptiles · All Facts

marine reptiles
Mosasaurs dominated Late Cretaceous seas as large carnivorous marine reptiles — related to lizards and snakes, not dinosaurs.
SrcNatural History Museum (London)

Next evidence →0.7 metersCompsognathus is listed by the Natural History Museum at only about 0.7 meters long — one of the smallest known dinosaurs.

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eutherian mammals and precocial birdsBone histology shows dinosaurs grew at accelerated rates versus living reptiles — large species reached rates comparable to eutherian mammals and precocial birds.
permineralization and mineral replacementMost dinosaur “bones” on display are fossils formed by permineralization and mineral replacement — original bone pores and tissue swapped or infilled by silica and other minerals.
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