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Carinodens

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Carinodens is a mosasaur from late Cretaceous Netherlands.

Description[]

Carinodens measured approximately 3.5 metres in length and is one of the smallest known mosasaurs. It was closely related to Globidens, though is scantly known in comparison. The holotype specimen consists of an incomplete right dentary and most subsequently referred fossils are isolated teeth. On the basis of general mosasaur standards, the teeth of Carinodens are unusually heterodont, both in morphology and size.

Carinodens, is like its close relative Globidens, considered to have been a durophagous mosasaur. Because the anteriormost part of the dentary of Carinodens is relatively slender with small pointed tooth crowns, only the posteriormost five teeth actually functioned for crushing food.

The anteriormost portion of the dentary was thus likely used for acquiring and handling food rather than crushing it, an idea already suggested by Dollo (1913) during the description of the type species. The maxilla of Carinodens is unknown, which hinders knowledge on the interaction between the lower and upper jaw.

Dollo (1913, 1924) suggested a diet dominated by echinoderms, whereas Lingham-Soliar (1990, 1999) listed a wide array of potential prey items, including belemnites, nautilids, bivalves, gastropods, scaphopods, brachiopods, echinoderms and arthropods. These groups were abundant in the late Cretaceous seas around Maastricht, meaning that their population numbers cannot explain the rarity of Carinodens. It is possible that Carinodens spent most of its life in deep waters, only rarely swimming in shallow seas

References[]

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