Mosasaurines

Mosasaurus (; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the Mosasauridae, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. The genus was one of the first Mesozoic marine reptiles known to science—the first fossils of Mosasaurus were found as skulls in a chalk quarry near the Dutch city of Maastricht in the late 18th century, and were initially thought to be crocodiles or whales. One skull discovered around 1780 was famously nicknamed the "great animal of

Prognathodon is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside genera like Mosasaurus and Clidastes. Prognathodon has been recovered from deposits ranging in age from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian in the Middle East, Europe, New Zealand, Africa and North America.

Clidastes is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside genera like Mosasaurus and Prognathodon. Clidastes is known from deposits ranging in age from the Coniacian to the early Campanian in the United States.

Globidens ("Globe tooth") is an extinct genus of mosasaurid oceanic lizard classified as part of the Globidensini tribe in the Mosasaurinae subfamily. Globidens belongs to the family Mosasauridae, which consists of several genera of predatory marine lizards of various sizes that were prevalent during the Late Cretaceous. Specimens of Globidens have been discovered in Angola, Brazil, Colombia, Morocco, Syria and the United States. Among mosasaurs, Globidens is probably most well known for the highly rounded, globe-like teeth that give it its name.

Plotosaurus ("swimmer lizard") is an extinct genus of large mosasaurs which lived during the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) in what is now North America. The taxon was initially described by Berkeley paleontologist Charles Lewis Camp in 1942 from several more or less complete fossil specimens discovered in California, USA. Originally named as Kolposaurus (meaning "bay lizard"), it was changed to Plotosaurus in 1951 when Camp discovered that the name had already been assigned to a type of nothosaur. Two species were historically assigned to the genus, but since 2008, only P. bennisoni has bee

Dallasaurus ("Dallas lizard") is a basal mosasauroid from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. Along with Russellosaurus, Dallasaurus is one of the two oldest mosasauroid taxa currently known from North America. It is also one of the smallest known mosasaurines, measuring approximately in length.

Moanasaurus (From Māori moana "sea" and Greek sauros "lizard"; meaning "Sea Lizard") was a genus of mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossil remains have been discovered in the North Island of New Zealand. Moanasaurus was a very large mosasaurine known originally from holotype CD43, a disarticulated skull, vertebrae, ribs and flipper bones. The skull measures in length, which shows that Moanasaurus was one of the largest in the subfamily of Mosasaurinae. Researchers argue that some Antarctic Mosasaurus remains (including a "large, fragmentary skull") may be attributed to this genus

Plesiotylosaurus, meaning "near Tylosaurus", is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside genera like Mosasaurus and Prognathodon. The genus contains one species, Plesiotylosaurus crassidens, recovered from deposits of Middle Maastrichtian age in the Moreno Formation in California.

Carinodens is an extinct genus of Cretaceous marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. "Carinodens" means "keel teeth" and was named in 1969 as a replacement name for Compressidens, "compressed teeth", which was already in use for a gadilidan scaphopod mollusk.

Igdamanosaurus, meaning "lizard from Igdaman", is an extinct genus of Cretaceous marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Globidensini tribe (within the Mosasaurinae), and is like the other members of the tribe recognised by its rounded and knob-like teeth. These teeth indicate a highly specialized lifestyle, likely including a durophagous diet.

extinct species of mosasaur

Mosasaurini is an extinct tribe of mosasaurine mosasaurs who lived during the Late Cretaceous and whose fossils have been found in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania, with questionable occurrences in Asia. They are highly derived mosasaurs, containing genera like Plotosaurus, having unique adaptations to fast swimming speeds, or Mosasaurus, which is among the largest known marine reptiles.

Megapterygius (meaning "large wing") is an extinct genus of mosasaurine mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous Toyajo Formation (Hasegawa Muddy Sandstone Member) of Japan. The genus contains a single species, M. wakayamaensis, known from an almost complete skeleton.

Xenodens (from Greek and Latin for "strange tooth") is an extinct genus of mosasaurine mosasaurid known from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) phosphate deposits in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco. The genus contains a single species, Xenodens calminechari, known from two isolated maxillae (upper jaw bones) with unusual saw-like teeth. While some researchers have expressed uncertainty regarding the authenticity of the holotype specimen, additional remains and CT scans have supported the original identifications.

Eremiasaurus ("desert lizard") is a genus of mosasaurs, an extinct group of marine reptiles, who lived during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The first known fossils of this taxon were teeth discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco, and described in 1952 by Camille Arambourg as coming from Mosasaurus. However, it was in 2012 that Aaron R. H. LeBlanc and his colleagues described the only known species, E. heterodontus, from two more or less complete skeletons that had been discovered in the same geological area as the teeth originally described by Arambourg. Subsequently,

The Globidensini or Globidentatini are a tribe of mosasaurine mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the tribe, known as "globidensins" or "globidensine mosasaurs", have been recovered from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The tribe contains the genera Globidens (the best studied genus by far), Carinodens, Igdamanosaurus, Harranasaurus and Xenodens. Features of the maxilla and digits make the placement of Carinodens and Xenodens in the tribe uncertain; some researchers have suggested that they may be more appropriately placed in the Mosasaurini.

Gnathomortis (meaning "jaws of death") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. Fossils of Gnathomortis have been recovered from the Early Campanian Mancos Shale of Colorado. The genus contains a single species, G. stadtmani, considered a species of the related Prognathodon up until its 2020 redescription. It was a large mosasaur measuring long.