Durophagous Mosasauridae (Squamata) from the Upper Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, with description of a new species of Globidens

Abstract

|Three durophagous mosasaur species are represented by isolated teeth in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) phosphatic beds of Morocco. Globidens phosphaticus nov. sp. is characterised mainly by a strong heterodonty, with mid-posterior teeth being bulbous, irregularly oval in crosssection, and having an inflated posterior surface, a large eccentric located and recurved apical nubbin, vertical sulci on medial and lateral faces, no carinae and an enamel surface covered by anastomosing ridges. Teeth of Prognathodon currii are broad and tall, straight cones, slightly swollen at the base, and with two serrated carinae. These two taxa have been collected from all the phosphatic series (lower to upper Maastrichtian) in the Ganntour Basin (Morocco). Globidens phosphaticus nov. sp. is probably also represented at other Maastrichtian phosphatic sites along the southern margin of the Mediterranean Tethys. Prognathodon currii was previously known only from the Upper Cretaceous phosphates of Negev. Of the third taxon, Carinodens belgicus, only a single tooth (now lost) is known from the Oulad Abdoun Basin (Morocco); this is low, swollen, laterally compressed and bicarinate with a large apical nubbin. Previous records of this species include Europe and Brazil.

Late Cretaceous (Campanian—Maastrichtian) marine reptiles from the Adaffa Formation, NW Saudi Arabia

“…The enamel (where preserved) is thin (∼ 0.5 mm) and smooth with very weak striations; unusually there is no evidence of strong carinae. The circular basal cross-sections and sub-equal, convex labial and lingual faces are consistent with the mosasaurine genus Prognathodon Dollo, 1889(Bardet et al 2005a.…”

“…Currently, the richest assemblages have been reported from the phosphate basins of Morocco (e.g. Arambourg, 1952;Bardet et al 2004Bardet et al , 2005a, and the eastern Mediterranean regions of Egypt (e.g. Werner & Bardet, 1996;Lapparent de Broin & Werner, 1998), Palestine and Negev (e.g.…”

Reptiles Extintos - Volumen en Homenaje a Zulma Gasparini

“…The apex is blunt and a rough ornamentation seems to be present. These characters fit generally well with the mosasaurine Prognathodon (see Bardet et al, 2005).…”

Soft tissue preservation in a fossil marine lizard with a bilobed tail fin

“…The skeletal anatomy of Tenerasaurus agrees in all observable respects with the generic diagnosis of the genus Prognathodon 33 and is therefore referred to that taxon here. This taxonomic reassignment is also supported by the fact that Prognathodon is represented by numerous larger individuals in the MCMF 25 and more broadly in the Middle East and Africa 34,35 . structures that may still be hidden in the matrix, and over the course of two days the tail of ERMNH HFV 197 was prepared using small chisels and a pneumatic microscribe.…”