Thalassotitan atrox, new mosasaurid

Concavenator · August 25, 2022, 01:46:03 AM

A new genus (Thalassotitan) and species (T.aprox) of mosasaurid, hailing from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) are described, with its remains having been found in Morocco.

Here's the (paywalled) paper.

And here's Andrey Atuchin's masterful reconstruction:

Now that I think about it, I find it somehow surprising this name wasn't used up until now for any other marine reptile!

Pliosaurking · August 25, 2022, 02:12:35 AM

I saw andreys post earlier on Instagram, what a wonderful piece of art!
That is also a very cool mosasaur with a sick name!

Faelrin · August 25, 2022, 02:26:00 AM

Beautiful artwork. It hasn't even been 24 hours, since I've been reeling over the Lystrosaurus find, and now we get a paper about a newly described and named giant mosasaur as well? Oh boy! Hasn't even been a full month since Jakapil got out there. One heck of a month for paleontology it seems.

@Halichoeres Please send me this one too. I'm bummed this is also paywalled.

Stegotyranno420 · August 25, 2022, 02:42:06 AM

It's cool we are going back to good old
Greek n Latin names.

Halichoeres · August 25, 2022, 09:55:58 PM

Quote from: Concavenator on August 25, 2022, 01:46:03 AMNow that I think about it, I find it somehow surprising this name wasn't used up until now for any other marine reptile!

If I were in a position to do so, I would have used it for a copepod or something!

I have access to the proofs for this, which means it has a watermark on every page and there might still be typos or minor formatting errors. Still, the important stuff is there and if anybody would like a copy just pm me your email address.

@Faelrin I sent it to you a little while ago

Lynx · August 25, 2022, 10:34:10 PM

I could easily see this guy being popular 20 or so years back with its awesome name alone!

Newt · August 26, 2022, 12:11:19 PM

Morocco's marine Cretaceous and Paleogene record is phenomenal. It has been producing all sorts of crazy sea turtles lately. It's too bad that everybody seems focused on Spinosaurus, because Morocco has much more to offer!

Halichoeres · August 26, 2022, 02:02:30 PM

Quote from: Newt on August 26, 2022, 12:11:19 PMMorocco's marine Cretaceous and Paleogene record is phenomenal. It has been producing all sorts of crazy sea turtles lately. It's too bad that everybody seems focused on Spinosaurus, because Morocco has much more to offer!

Sorry, Spino-who-us?

Stegotyranno420 · August 26, 2022, 03:23:16 PM

Quote from: Halichoeres on August 26, 2022, 02:02:30 PM
Quote from: Newt on August 26, 2022, 12:11:19 PMMorocco's marine Cretaceous and Paleogene record is phenomenal. It has been producing all sorts of crazy sea turtles lately. It's too bad that everybody seems focused on Spinosaurus, because Morocco has much more to offer!

Sorry, Spino-who-us?

I think he meant Spinophorosaurus, I don't know honestly

Faelrin · August 27, 2022, 07:59:37 PM

@Newt I'm guilty as such, but you are right about that and it is also why I was excited to see this when I did.

andrewsaurus rex · August 28, 2022, 04:29:27 PM

Nice. A big prognathodon relative. I like prognathodontids, with their big bone crushing skulls. More like the Mosasaur in Jurassic World.

This one is about 9 meters long; odds are it's an average sized adult. So maybe they grew up to 12-13 meters for the largest.

The artwork is great. Reminiscent of a Great White breaching off of South Africa.

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Thalassotitan atrox, new mosasaurid