Description
- Mosasaur Tooth in natural medium with other inclusions.
- Species: Mosasaurus sp.
- Age: Cretaceous, 66 Million Years Old
- Source: Morocco
- Size: 40-60mm tooth in rock medium
- Exact item pictured.
Mosasaurs were large marine reptiles that lived approximately 98 to 66 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. They were apex predators that dominated the oceans, preying on all manner of marine life, including other aquatic reptiles, fish and even sharks. Mosasaurs closest living relatives are monitor lizards sharing many similar features, such as a elongated narrow flexible jaw and sharp curved teeth. However they grew far larger than any monitor lizard alive today reaching lengths of up to 15 meters (50 feet). The largest of which, like Tylosaurus and Mosasaurus, grew to be the largest marine predators of their time.
These teeth were collected from phosphate beds in Morocco; large areas of sedimentary rock that made up the seafloor of the Tethys Sea in the Cretaceous period. These have yielded some of the best mosasaur fossils in the world, including nearly complete skeletons of Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, and other genera. Taxonomic classification of ancient extinct species can be complicated and hard to verify exact species, particularly from only a tooth. However it is like that this tooth belonged to M. beaugei. It is estimated that M. beaugei grew to a total length of 8–10 meters and their skulls made up 1 meter (3.3 ft) of their total length.
These fossil teeth are still in the surrounding rock they were found in. The rock may contain more smaller teeth from mosasaurs and sharks. It may also contain Mosasaur skull bones, as well as fish and shark vertebrae and other fossils.
