Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'mosasaurs'.
-
Hey guys, this is my first time posting. I got this fossilized tooth from Morocco the other day and what I want to know is which species it belongs to? Thanks!
-
From the album: Texas Campanian (Cretaceous)
Two Mosasaur caudal vertebrae Campanian Texas These two caudal vertebrae, found in the same stream, demonstrate some of the size variation seen in mosasaurs. Notice the two pits of the bottom vert - those are for the haemal arches, and with no other bony attachments except for the base of the neural spine (on the other side), we can infer that this vert came from close to the end of the tail, probably putting its owner in the 30+ foot range. Alternatively, though very worn, it seems that the smaller vert came from a position closer to the pelvis (though still caudal). Likely from a juvenile of what had to already have been a different, very small species.- 1 comment
-
- 6
-
-
- mosasaur
- mosasaur vert
- (and 1 more)
-
New mosasaur species named from the Pierre Shale of North Dakota: Jormungandr walhallaensis
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon posted a topic in Fossil News
A new mosasaur, related to the genus Clidastes, has been described from the Middle Campanian Pembina Member of the Pierre Shale Formation of North Dakota near the town of Walhalla and has been given the undeniably cool name of Jormungandr walhallaensis, after the world serpent of Norse mythology! Zietlow, Boyd and Van Vranken, 2023. Jormungandr walhallaensis: a new mosasaurine (Squamata: Mosasauroidae) from the Pierre Shale Formation (Pembina Member: Middle Campanian) of North Dakota.
-
To pass some time I've been recently researching early Paleocene life and I keep coming back to researching (in my view) the two strangest and controversial Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene Formations I know of. These are the Hornerstown Formation dating 66.5-65.5 Million Years ago in what is now New Jersey, U.S. And the Takatika Grit Formation dating 66.5-60.0 Million Years ago in what is now the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=0b3baee9ab1afc7973337f5047495b723fcfa4f2 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315461615_The_age_of_the_Takatika_Grit_Chatham_Islands_New_Zealand https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667109000184?via%3Dihub I've read many reports about these formations and the pretty controversial stuff that's been found in both these areas (Paleocene ammonites and reports of archaic marine reptiles like Paleocene Mosasaurs). I'm really not 100% sure what to make of this as I've heard conflicting hypotheses on whether these more archaic marine reptile fossils were reworked from older formations while others say it's not too too likely? https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/maastrichtian-ammonites-from-the-hornerstown-formation-in-new-jersey/4F051D07668B7B893EEFECF0506E2F1B https://bioone.org/journals/acta-palaeontologica-polonica/volume-57/issue-4/app.2011.0068/Short-Term-Survival-of-Ammonites-in-New-Jersey-After-the/10.4202/app.2011.0068.full For most of these "controversial" specimens, I would say reworking is likely while some I'll admit I'm not sure? For the Mosasaurs, it's clear that the astroid impact 66 Million Years ago caused their total extinction, but I'm still not 100% convinced that none emerged from the event alive (at least barely) and swam the seas in the very first days of the Danian Paleocene but not too long after. Unlike the mostly terrestrial Non-Avian Dinosaurs, which could only hide in so many places and it's very unlike more than a tiny amount of individuals (not enough to support a population) made it into the Paleocene, the Oceans have slightly more areas to hide and more even for endothermic air breathing animals like Mosasaurs (though as an endotherm, food does become a major issue especially when the ocean food chain nearly collapsed completely). What I'm wondering is how valid are at least "some" of these supposed archaic marine reptile and ammonite fossils from the earliest Paleocene sections of the Hornerstown Formation and the Takatika Grit? Also, of all the Maastrichtian Mosasaurs known so far, which ones would have been the mostly likely to have (at least briefly) survived the Cretaceous-Paleocene Extinction Event of 66 Million Years ago (would it have been generalist feeders, ones that specialized in deep sea hunting, ones with cosmopolitan distributions, ones small by mosasaur standards but still around the same size of the few confirmed large reptiles that survived the event like the 8 meter (26 feet) in length Thoracosaurus, or ones with all these traits and advantages)? -
Scrappy bones and a few teeth: Denmark's finest mosasaur specimen
The Amateur Paleontologist posted a topic in A Trip to the Museum
Hi all Some of you may remember that I used to (and still do) research on fossils from the Late Cretaceous chalk of Denmark... Now there are 2 main chalk sites in Denmark, Møns Klint and Stevns Klint. My work focuses on the stuff from Møns Klint, but in all honesty there's some spectacular fossils coming out of both localities. One thing that both Møns and Stevns have in common is that fossils of mosasaurs (giant lizard-like marine reptiles) are extremely rare, with only a small handful of specimens found every year. A few years ago, I went to the Geomuseum Faxe (south of Copenhagen) to check out one of the finest mosasaur specimens from the Danish Chalk. It's roughly 67 million years old, and was found by amateur collector Peter Bennicke at a small quarry close to the Stevns Klint cliffs. The specimen is preserved in a large-ish block of chalk (~0.7 metres wide). The whole fossil consists of about 7 or 8 teeth, and some small cranial and jaw fragments. Yeah. Mosasaurs are so rare in Denmark that the best mosasaur fossil is a small association of a few teeth and bone bits. These remains are from Plioplatecarpus sp., one of the smaller fish-eating mosasaurs. The find was considered so rare that it was declared as part of the "Danish Natural History treasure trove" (Danekræ, catalogue Nº DK-1048). The museum where the mosasaur is kept (on loan from the natural history museum in Copenhagen). The chalk quarry (Stevns Kridtbrud) where the mosasaur fossil was found. Here's the Plioplatecarpus specimen in all its fragmentary glory! Most mosasaur fossils in Denmark are in the form of single isolated teeth, so this find is especially cool because it's one of very few (2-3) specimens that consist of multiple associated bones/teeth from one individual. This one would've been roughly 4-5 metres long, and would have ate small to mid-sized fish such as Enchodus. By the way sorry for the not-so-great photo quality, it's kinda difficult to take good pictures from behind an exhibition case... Best-preserved teeth. Tiny little teeth... And a small scrap of bone, probably cranial. More bone fragments... So yeah, a few associated teeth and bits of bone - for something so rare, this one's pretty cool. Hopefully I can find something like that, at Møns Klint this time, when I go out for this year's fieldwork! Let me know what you think about this nice mosasaur specimen!!
- 5 replies
-
- 7
-
-
-
- danish chalk
- denmark
- (and 6 more)
-
Where are all the British mosasaurs?
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon posted a topic in Questions & Answers
Hi all, While I'm aware that current Cretaceous exposures in Britain are largely restricted to the south and east coasts of the islands (see geological map below; source), significant marine deposition is said to have taken place across much of Great Britain from the Aptian onward (source). As such - and especially considering the richness of the record of the marine ecosystem during the Jurassic- one would expect an abundance of marine reptile remains to be known from British Late Cretaceous sediments as well, the epitome of which, of course, would be the mosasaurs. However, whereas finds of remains of ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs have been reported (see, for instance, Fischer et al. 2014 or Madzia 2016) - albeit from somewhat older strata than from which one might expect mosasaur remains to show up - very little information actually seems to be available as concerns this highly diverse group of marine squamates. When browsing the literature, for example, I've only found limited references to mosasaurs in Britain, most notably in Benton and Spencer's (1995) "Fossil Reptiles of Great Britain", in which the authors (p. 221) observe that Some further mentions of mosasaurs are made in this work on pages 264-265, which include lists of marine reptile finds at various locations across the country, as well as page 270, which describes St. James's Pit in Norwich, Norfolk, purportedly "Britain's best mosasaur locality" (ibid.). The pages have been reproduced below for ease of reference: Some material is also illustrated and described by Milner in "Fossils of the Chalk, second edition" (Smith and Batten, eds., 2002), but again minimally so: Plate 64 3) Leiodon anceps, Campanian, Norwich, Norfolk; 4) Clidastes sp., ?Upper Turonian, Dorking, Surrey; 5, plioplatecarpinae incertae sedis, Upper Chalk, Sussex Plate 65 1) Clidastes sp., Upper Chalk, Sussex; 5) cf. Tylosaurus, Santonian, Forness Point, east of Margate, Kent Outside of that, over the past couple of years I've only bumped into some loose specimens here and there being offered at auction sites, such as the below batch of alleged mosasaur teeth from Worcestershire, purportedly once part of the prominent Gregory, Bottley and Lloyd collection (at the resolution provided and in their state of preservation it's hard to make out whether they are indeed mosasaurian, however); or the mosasaur lumbar vertebra of unknown origin. It was actually these specimens that first attracted my attention to the existence of British mosasaurs, since so little has been reported on them elsewhere: an internet search doesn't result in anything fruitful, for example, nor have I come across any mosasaur material listed in museum collections. I would therefore be very interested in hearing what you all make of the above specimens, as well as the apparent paucity of British mosasaur material either in museums or published literature. Is this just the outcome of a collection/research bias, lack of suitable accessible exposures, or could there be another reason... @Praefectus @JohnJ @caterpillar @Welsh Wizard @paulgdls @DE&i and others
.thumb.jpg.382dfffef0e0c3beda759090d6f53ddf.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.c1dcfea312aa59618ea93241873f5802.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.726d953499c9638d4eded68fb187f4f3.jpg)
-
I saw this online, labeled as a Hoffmann mosasaur. Species was listed as Mosasaurus hoffmanni Age was listed as the Upper Cretaceous, Maastrichtian stage, (~66 Million Years) Location was listed as Oued Zem, Morocco The formation was listed as Ouled Abdoun Basin (Phosphate beds) The size listed at 6.7cm Is this true?
-
Hello, I have some fossil bones. Is it possible if I ask expert to help me to identify this? Thank you very much Mosasauroidea? North Sulphur River, Texas
-
My friend just bought this Moroccan Mosasaur Skull? on online without checking with me first. The seller describes it as a restored mosasaur dinosaur skull with nice fossil teeth. I know what I think about it, but would like to get other opinions.
-
Are Mosasaurs considered lizards?
-
Hi guys I have quite a few teeth that I would love to be able to identify let’s start with mosasaurs I think 1. 2. 3. I recall these have a new name past globidens? 4. 6.
-
How large can a mosasaur tooth reach(only measuring crown)?
jasonlwjy posted a topic in Questions & Answers
I am quite interested about large teeth. Below is the largest mosasaur teeth i have ever seen, with the incomplete crown height greater than 7 cm, the complete crown height may be over 8 cm. But i've heard somebody said that the tooth crown of largest mosasuar can reach 10 cm, is it true? Or can mosasaur tooth really grow that big? I'll appreciate a lot if you share your idea or pictures! What's more, when we compare teeth from different individual but from same section of the jaw bone, do larger teeth represent larger individual in mosasaurs?
-
Mosasaurs Jaws from Morocco Thoughts?
RobFallen posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Thoughts on these please guys, quite like them but how genuine are they? also which would be the best to own if you only had space in your collection for one of them? #1 Eremiasaurus heterodontus Size of Jaw = 13.3 cm (5.25 inches) long by 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide #2 Halisaurus arambourgi Size of Jaw = 11.4 cm (4.5 inches) long. Teeth = 2 cm to 2.5 cm (1 inch) approximately thanks
-
This bone has not been identified. I think it may be the leg bone of mosasaur or plesiosaur. Do you have any opinions? It comes from the Cretaceous period in Morocco
-
The giant mosasaur Prognathodon is now known from Denmark!
The Amateur Paleontologist posted a topic in Fossil News
A paper was recently published announcing the presence of Prognathodon in the Late Cretaceous chalk of Denmark. Prognathodon was a large, predatory mosasaur, well-known in the USA and Morocco, but known from other places e.g., the Netherlands. This new study is especially quite a big deal, because mosasaur fossils are incredibly rare in the Danish chalks. Prognathodon is now the 4th mosasaur known from the Late Cretaceous of Denmark, along with Mosasaurus, Plioplatecarpus and Carinodens. The Danish material is represented by two teeth - one of them being from the fossil site I study, Møns Klint! It's quite exciting that more and more research on the Late Cretaceous vertebrates of Denmark is being done The two danish Prognathodon teeth. The larger one (A-D) was found at Møns Klint, the smaller one (E-H) was found at Stevns Klint. These would have originated from 7.5- and 4-metre long mosasaurs, respectively. This is the new paper describing the mosasaur material: Giltaij, T.J., Milàn, J., Jagt, J.W.M. & Schulp, A.S. (2021). Prognathodon (Squamata, Mosasauridae) from the Maastrichtian chalk of Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, vol. 69, pp. 53–58. You can download the paper from here : https://2dgf.dk/publikationer/bulletin/bulletin-69-2021/#3 Hope you enjoyed this "Made-in-Denmark" mosasaur news -Christian
-
Greetings good people of the fossil forum... I stand before you all this afternoon to let you know of an event happening at the Tate Geological Museum in Casper, Wyoming on June 4-6. Yes, it is the 26th annual Tate Conference! The theme this year is Marine Reptiles. We have speakers from all over the map (including a few virtual folks speaking form Europe), talking about mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, sea turtles and even Tanystropheus (one of my personal favorites). Talks will be here on the Casper College campus and will be all day on Friday the 4th. As usual, we are having two days of field trips as well with the conference. Saturday we will head out to the Cretaceous Pierre Shale in eastern Wyoming for mosasaurs (and fishes) and with some luck, a plesiosaur. With a ton o f luck we turn up a sea turtles or pterosaur or bird. On Sunday we will go into the Jurassic Sundance Formation to look for ichthyosaurs (and the ever-present belemnites) and maybe an plesiosaur. Friday conference attendees get priority for spaces on the field trips. Registration and a list of speakers and talks can be found here: https://www.caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum/events/conference/ I would love to see a few folks form the forum show up. Casper College has done away with mask ordinances, but we will be encouraging masks and social distancing. Masks are still required for the field trips... the automotive portion.
-
Hi everyone, I just ordered this beautiful vertebra found in the Niobrara Chalk of Kansas (Cretaceous, 87 - 82 mya) for quite a bargain. Unfortunalty I don't have any precise location as where it was found, for that I am going to contact the seller. The vertebra was listed as being Mosasaur which it could very well be, but since it is a little bit distorted I am not quite sure, especially since many other critters can be found in the Niobrara Chalk. So I was hoping on the expertise of some of our members here who have more knowledge of Cretaceous verts and of Kansas fossils. @KansasFossilHunter @Troodon @LordTrilobite @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon @The Amateur Paleontologist you guys might be able to shed some more light on the piece? Thank you in advance! Topic might be more usefull with some pics, so here they are.
.thumb.jpg.c2e40a398a5feb5005da6f80f82a8b29.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.63505016fa3cab748e06b53022e2dd8a.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.ec5b4eb1d1dde96824575e599ed421fc.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.fd6a0e68ec8e03ada115bef61b7a5084.jpg)
.thumb.jpg.e52d38520369cc977cf97f8ca0002e40.jpg)
-
Hey all, I'll try my best to be brief but detailed in my question, but I'd like it to be a discussion as well, if there is one to be had. From what I understand, the Western Interior Seaway had what appeared to be too many large, active predators for a similar environment to support, especially when one considers how shallow the seaway was. There were the many species of Mosasaurs, with other large predators like Xiphactinus, with the typical western interior seaway sharks as well. This would make me think that that there are two possible outcomes - either an absolutely enormous supply of prey at the lower trophic levels, or some serious competition among the predators of the higher trophic levels...or maybe both. Now, I understand niche partitioning plays a role. For example, evidence suggests Squalicorax primarily scavenged, while Cretoxyrhina were likely sight oriented, agile top predators. While that may put these particular sharks away from competing with each other, other predators, for example, did theoretically fill the same niches as Cretoxyrhina. For example, the fact that Xiphactinus, Cretoxyrhina, and some large Mosasaurs can all be found in the same locales sometimes suggests not only that that these large, agile, theoretically "top predators" not only lived at the same time, competing for (probably) the same prey, but were in each other's neighborhood as well. How is this possible, or sustainable? Now, perhaps I have my time lines wrong, perhaps a million years this way or that..So this is where I have a few more species specific questions. For example: Tylosaurus is a genus that can be found, for example, in the north sulfur river, and is late Cretaceous. Mosasaurus maximus is also late cretaceous, and the one specimen I know of that comes to mind was found in Austin, supposedly in the "Navarro" formation, whereas the NSR is Ozan. While I couldn't find an exact age for the Navarro, both are late Cretaceous, and at first glance there's not much to suggest that M. maximus and Tylosaurs were much different from each other... did they really evolve to be in direct competition? The same could be said with Cretoxyrhina and Cretodus. I found shockingly little about Cretodus on the web, but what I did find was that they were able to determine from that lovely speciman from Kansas that at least Cretodus houghtonorum could reach somewhere around 22 feet in length, whereas it's thought Cretoxyrhina could achieve lengths of 26 feet. Again, these are both large active predators that (I think) lived at the same time, and if looking at the teeth on Cretodus, it does seem reasonable to think that they were active predators - putting them in direct competition with each other and the rest of the active seaway predators. If you made it this far through my ramblings, thank you! If you know more than me please chip in - I'm quite specifically curious about Cretodus's role in the the food web, but have a broader interest too in trying to understand how all these mega sized predators co-existed with one another.- 11 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- cretaceous sharks
- mosasaurs
- (and 1 more)
-
Hi TFF friends, I fear this thread might be in the wrong place. If it is the case, my apologize. I am currently compiling all sorts of data about Plioplatecarpinae and i would like to add photos of plioplatecarpinae's tooth. I browsed the world wide web for photos. I found some but i would like to add more. If you have in your collection, teeth from a genus belonging to this sub-family, could you please send me (by answering this thread so everybody enjoy your photos) if possible a photo of the labial/lingual/ distal/apex view of the tooth? Your help is invaluable. Thank you so much.
-
Where to get started in finding Central Texas teeth and bones
Jared C posted a topic in Questions & Answers
I'm a newbie who lives in the Austin area with a lot of passion for ancient life, but I'm having trouble making a decisive start with with my searches. I have a particular interest in large western interior seaway predators, most notably xiphactinus, but also the mosasaurs and sharks that lived in the area as well. Finding a vertebrae, of perhaps even teeth from these groups would be absolutely wonderful, but of the few creeks in the Austin area I've scouted, I've been able to turn up nothing besides gastropods. This is still despite heavily studying the sometimes confusing Texas geological maps So with this in mind, how and where do I start? Are there any places in the Austin area where I may have some luck in discovering possible vertebrae or teeth? I'd love any advice, I'm eager to make a start but I'm quite alone and need a little bit of guidance. Thanks! -
From the album: Cretaceous
Mosasaur Tooth upper Cretaceous Wenonah Formation Matawan group Big Brook Marlboro, N.J. Just over one inch in length. Found 11/1/20.- 3 comments
-
- 1
-
-
- cretaceous
- matawan group
- (and 3 more)
-
I got this recently and it seemed so cheap for the size (I know nothing about authenticating fossils) so I wanted to check if it was real
-
Hey everybody, i work on several part of mosasaurs vertebral column (2 cervical and one dorsal) from morocco and i search an idea to display them, maybe on a stand but i can’t build one in metal because i can’t weld. So do you have any idea for me ?
-
Mosasaur tooth and Edaphosaur toe bone. Are they real?
Sickle_Claw posted a topic in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications
Hello everyone. My first post in a while, and I just want to know the authenticity of these fossils that I bought online some time ago. I understand not the flashiest or most compelx, but I would just like to know. Please let me know if you would like better pictures. Mosasaur: Edaphosaurus -
Is it possible to narrow down what type of mosasaur a tooth came from? Found a tooth but it looks different from the typical ones I see all over google. Thanks!
.jpg.9b990ad695ec49778ac9c5e963a048ee.jpg)
.jpg.ffb18fd667ddc89aeabc8c95235dc141.jpg)
.jpg.8d9daf7b122e708a1b896f46449a89b0.jpg)
.jpg.33d94edf381edea95cb3543122372603.jpg)
.jpg.452bf6b2db330cdf8a8a136a6ea799c2.jpg)
.jpg.d457a3c72ae635b6bdc865fa14c3dd39.jpg)
.jpg.89efac746dd783dcebbc69ee6aae071f.jpg)
.jpg.2111068d70b117d3275389e82454bd27.jpg)
.thumb.JPG.d64a00de120fb553baacff5149461632.JPG)
