Famous Prehistoric Animals That Weren’t Actually Dinosaurs
So better stop calling them that way…
Most people often use the word ‘dinosaur’ as a catch-all term to describe any sort of extinct, large, or bizarre, reptilian-like animal. That’s unfortunate since Dinosauria is a scientific term with a strict meaning and well-defined membership. Thanks to common misconceptions generated by popular culture, many prehistoric animals we often call ‘dinosaurs’ actually weren’t.
Let’s try to address the most popular non-dinosaurian creatures that are frequently taken as dinosaurs.
Mosasaurus hoffmannii
Mosasaurus was prominently featured in the latest Jurassic World saga and left a memorable impression on popular culture [1]. Despite their terrifying appearance, mosasaurs were not dinosaurs, but a clade of marine reptiles closely related to varanoid lizards.
These creatures breathed air and were powerful swimmers. They had reduced limb bones and their paddles were formed by webbing between their long finger and toe bones. Their tails were broad and supplied their locomotive power. Some scientists proposed mosasaurs were so well adapted to their environment that they most likely gave birth to live young, rather than returning to the shore to lay eggs.
