Pluridens
Sign in to savePluridens ("many teeth") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the Mosasauridae. Pluridens is placed in the subfamily Halisaurinae with the genera Phosphorosaurus, Eonatator and Halisaurus. Compared to related halisaurines, Pluridens had longer jaws with more teeth, and smaller eyes. It also grew large size, measuring long and perhaps over in some individuals. The jaws in some specimens are robust, and sometimes show injuries suggestive of combat. The jaws may have been used for fighting over mates or territories.
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4 sectionsContents
- Description
- Classification
- Species and specimens
- References
Pluridens ("many teeth") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the Mosasauridae. Pluridens is placed in the subfamily Halisaurinae with the genera Phosphorosaurus, Eonatator and Halisaurus. Compared to related halisaurines, Pluridens had longer jaws with more teeth, and smaller eyes. It also grew large size, measuring long and perhaps over in some individuals. The jaws in some specimens are robust, and sometimes show injuries suggestive of combat. The jaws may have been used for fighting over mates or territories.
Pluridens lived in the shallow seas of West Africa during the late Campanian-Maastrichtian. The genus contains four named species, P. walkeri, P. calabaria, P. serpentis and P. imelaki. The type species P. walkeri is known from the Maastrichtian of southwest Niger, whereas P. calabaria is found in slightly older (late Campanian) deposits in Nigeria. P. serpentis and P. imelaki were found in Maastrichtian deposits in Morocco. Pluridens was briefly synonymized with Halisaurus by Lindgren and Siverson (2005), but subsequent studies rejected the synonymy.