Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis of Fossil Bone (Mosasaurs) from Marine Deposits of the Upper Cretaceous of North America

Research into bone histology of fossil material is a growing area of inquiry in vertebrate paleontology. Incorporating histological study into ontogenetic investigation presents new opportunities for gaining data to better understand ontogeny, ecology, and evolution of mosasaurs. Adding scanning electron microscopy to the growing technology being applied to fossil research can only further the understanding of long extinct animals.Mosasaurs were totally marine lizards which inhabited both open ocean and epicontinental seas during the late Cretaceous (Turonian through Maestrichtian), approximately 90-65. million years ago. Mosasaurs have been collected from many areas of North America. The specimens used in this study were collected from Alabama, Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas. I have restricted the fossil material for destructive analysis to ribs and vertebrae. Ribs have not been shown to have importance in morphological analysis relating to systematics or evolution, therefore their destruction does not imped the research of others. Vertebrae were isolated on outcrop but could be identified to genus and growth stage.