Description
- Plesiosaur Tooth in natural rock
- Species: Zarafasaura oceanis
- Age: Cretaceous, 66 Million Years Old
- Source: Morocco
- Size: Approx 60mm
- Image shows exact item received.
Plesiosaurs are highly recognisable long-necked marine reptiles; think Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. They were large marine reptiles that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, approximately 200 to 66 million years ago. They are characterised by their distinctive broad flat body shape, four strong flippers, and long necks. Plesiosaurs were well adapted for life in ancient seas and are considered to be some of the most successful marine reptiles of the Mesozoic era, preying on a wide variety of marine life, including fish, squid, and other marine reptiles.
These Plesiosaur teeth were collected from phosphate beds in the Ouled Abdoun Basin 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 marine reptile fossils in the world, including nearly complete skeletons of Mosasaurus, and other genera.
This tooth is from Zarafasaura oceanis; a relatively small Plesiosaur, from the Elasmosauridae family. It’s unusual name comes from the Arabic name for Giraffe, ‘Zarafa’, after it’s long neck; and ‘saurus’, Greek for Lizard; ‘oceanis’ is Latin for ‘Daughter of the Sea’. It is believed to have measured around 3–4 metres (9.8–13.1 ft) long and weighed about 100 kilograms (220 lb).
This large fossil tooth measures 60mm, and is still in the surrounding rock is was found in. The rock may contain other teeth from marine reptiles and sharks. It may also contain Plesiosaur skull bones, as well as fish and shark vertebrae and other fossils.
