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.
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.
== Discovery and naming == The Xenodens holotype specimen, MHNM.KHG.331, was acquired from a local farmer in the city of Ouled Bou Ali in Khouribga Province, Morocco. While the exact type locality cannot be precisely located due to the phosphate mine being active, examining the block of the original, unprepared matrix containing the holotype suggested that the specimen originate from the Sidi Chennane phosphate mine (Upper Couche III) of Oulad Abdoun Basin. The specimen consists of a left maxilla with four associated teeth and tooth replacement pits.
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).