Hainosaurus is a disputed extinct genus of tylosaurine mosasaur. Hainosaurus is sometimes supported as a distinct genus containing species otherwise assigned to Tylosaurus, based on differences in tooth morphology.[1]
The type species of Hainosaurus is H. bernardi (otherwise designated as Tylosaurus bernardi). Tylosaurus pembinensis has historically also sometimes been referred to as Hainosaurus pembinensis.
A third species, H. boubker was named based on Moroccan fossils in 2022[2] but the description was published in Science Research Publishing, a predatory journal, and is therefore not valid.[3][4]
Description[]
Reconstruction of "Hainosaurus boubker" by Carlos Espinosa
At first it was estimated to be 17 meters (56 ft), and the largest mosasaurid. During the 1990s, its size was revised to 15 meters (49 ft) long. More recently, Johan Lindgren estimated that it reached lengths of up to 12.2 metres (40 ft). 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. It had more vertebrae from the neck to the part of the tail with chevrons (53) than other species of Tylosaurus. Hainosaurus's tail has less chevron-bearing vertebrae, making it shorter than that of other species. It is unique among mosasaurids in possessing blade-like teeth that are laterally compressed, encircled by enamel facets, and differentiated along the dental margin.
Classification[]
Hainosaurus was a member of the subfamily Tylosaurinae in the Mosasauridae family.
Gallery[]
- ↑ J. J. Hornung & M. Reich (2014) "Tylosaurine mosasaurs (Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous of northern Germany"
- ↑ (PDF) First Record of a Tylosaurine Mosasaur from the Latest Cretaceous Phosphates of Morocco (researchgate.net)
- ↑ List of predatory publishers by scholarlyoa.com
- ↑ https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/spears-universe-is-like-space-ship-and-the-problem-with-predatory-science-journals