Reptile dubbed 'Jaws of Death' terrorized Cretaceous seas

A cast of the mosasaur Gnathomortis stadtmani's bones mounted at Brigham Young University's Eyring Science Center are seen in Provo, Utah, U.S. in an undated photograph. BYU/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roughly 80 million years ago in the shallow inland sea that once split North America into eastern and western land masses, a fearsome 33-foot-long (10-meter-long) marine reptile with powerful jaws and tremendous bite-force was one of the apex predators.

A type of seagoing lizard called a mosasaur that ruled the oceans at the same time dinosaurs dominated the land, it has now been given a name meaning "Jaws of Death."