Mosasaurs breathed air, were powerful swimmers, and were well-adapted to living in the warm, shallow epicontinental seas of the Upper Cretaceous. Mosasaurs were so well adapted to this environment that they gave birth to live young, rather than return to the shore to lay eggs, as sea turtles do. Thousands of fossils have been found, from every continent. There are about 40 known species. Most skeletons have been found in North America in chalk laid down in the Western Interior Seaway.