Goronyosaurus
| Goronyosaurus | ||||||||||||
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Goronyosaurus , live reconstruction |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Cretaceous ( Maastrichtian ) | ||||||||||||
| 72 to 66 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Goronyosaurus | ||||||||||||
| Azzaroli , de Giuli , Ficcarelli & Torre , 1972 | ||||||||||||
Goronyosaurus is a genus of mosasaurs from the late Upper Cretaceous . One species has been described, Goronyosaurus nigeriensis . Its fossil remains were found in the so-called "Mosasaur Shales" in the Goronyo district in the Nigerian state of Sokoto .
features
Goronyosaurus could be seven meters long, with a skull length of 62 cm. Morphologically , it differs greatly from other mosasaurs and is not closely related to any other. Its heavily built skull is not pointed towards the end, the rostrum rather resembles a long cylinder. The skull and teeth were similar to those of the crocodiles and have ten elongated fangs that reached into a gap or hole in the opposite jaw when the mouth was closed. Its jaws were relatively longer than those of other mosasaurs, the jaw muscles were positioned far back and enabled a quick bite. His eyes were small, but his sense of smell and touch should have been well developed. An examination of the fangs showed that they were more suitable for cutting meat than for breaking bones. It probably lived in biotopes with murky water, such as estuaries, and fed on other reptiles and large fish.
literature
- Richard Ellis: Sea Dragons. Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence KS 2003, ISBN 0-7006-1269-6 .
Web links
- Ben Creisler: Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide ( Memento from October 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Michael J. Everhart: Rapid evolution, diversification and distribution of mosasaurs (Reptilia; Squamata) prior to the KT boundary. In: Tate 2005. 11th annual symposium in paleontology and geology. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Adaptive radiation after the bottleneck. Tate Geological Museum - Casper College, Casper WY 2005, pp. 16-27, online at oceansofkansas.com
