Mosasaur fossil: Life of 85-million-year-old 'sea monster' illuminated

ScienceDaily (2010-08-10) -- One of the ocean's most formidable marine predators, the mosasaur Platecarpus, lived in the Cretaceous Period some 85 million years ago and was thought to have swum like an eel. That theory is debunked in a new article. Scientists have reconceived the animal's morphology, or body plan, based on a spectacular specimen housed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.