Hainosaurus
| Hainosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70.6–68 Ma | |
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| Skull, Natural History Museum of Bruxelles | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Mosasauridae |
| Subfamily: | Tylosaurinae |
| Genus: | Hainosaurus Dollo, 1885 |
| Species | |
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Hainosaurus is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is one of the largest mosasaurs, though its size has been revised more than once. At first it was estimated to be 17 metres (56 ft), and the largest mosasaurid.[1] During the 1990s, its size was revised to 15 metres (49 ft) long;[2] more recently, Johan Lindgren estimated that it reached lengths of up to 12.2 metres (40 ft).[3] It was one of the top marine predators of the Late Cretaceous. Like other giant mosasaurs, this giant predator preyed on turtles, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, cephalopods, sharks, fish, and smaller mosasaurs.
Hainosaurus is a member of the subfamily Tylosaurinae, and it is related to the wholly North American Tylosaurus. However, it has more vertebrae from the neck to the part of the tail with chevrons (53) than Tylosaurus (35). Both genera are large marine superpredators. Hainosaurus' tail has less chevron-bearing vertebrae, making it shorter than that of Tylosaurus. The only known and type species of Hainosaurus is H. bernardi, named after the Belgian Léopold Bernard, owner of the phosphate chalk exploitation where the fossil was unearthed.[4] In a paper published in 2016, Hainosaurus was considered congeneric with Tylosaurus.[5]
Restoration
References
- ↑ Russell, D. A. 1967. Systematics and morphology of American mosasaurs (Reptilia, Sauria). Yale Univ. Bull 23:241. pp.
- ↑ Lingham-Soliar, T. 1998. Unusual death of a Cretaceous giant. Lethaia 31:308–310.
- ↑ Johan Lindgren (2005) The first record of Hainosaurus (Reptilia: Mosasauridae) from Sweden. Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 79, No. 6, pp. 1157–1165
- ↑ Dollo, L., 1891. La vie au sein des mers. Paris, Librairie J.B. Baillière et Fil
- ↑ Paulina Jimenez-huidobro and Michael W. Caldwell (2016). "Reassessment and reassignment of the early Maastrichtian mosasaur Hainosaurus bernardi Dollo, 1885, to Tylosaurus Marsh, 1872". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Online edition: e1096275. doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1096275.