Xenodens calminechari: Strange Toothed mosasaurine from Morocco

[TethysaurusUK]

This is one of the most bizarre mosasaur taxa I have ever seen. The recurved, saw-like teeth to me seem like that of the contemporaneous Squalicorax (possible competition/niche overlap). One unique aspect of this study that I don't want to be overlooked is the affiliation with Carinodens(a small, durophagous mosasaur, found in the same assemblage), a number of characteristics indicate that Carinodens and Xenodensshould be grouped together in the Mosasaurinae. Thus, complicating the already unstable status of Globidensini that was illustrated in LeBlanc et al. (2012) and was further expanded upon by Lively (2020). The homoplastic nature of the Globidensini is slowly causing it to unravel. Ecologically, Xenodens may have filled the mosasaur-equivalent of a dogfish and may have fed on small, soft prey items along with scavenging on larger carcasses (maybe the clean-up crew of the Moroccan phosphatic deposits).

[Loon]

Those are some very neat teeth. I'm not familiar with mosasaur anatomy really, but I can right away see what you're talking about.

[Halichoeres]

If it has saw teeth I propose it was xylophagous. It probably digested the lignin with the help of a termite colony residing in its small intestine. I won't hear any other hypotheses.

[Newt]

Neat! Mosasaurs got up to some interesting stuff in their brief existence. I've been guilty of thinking of them as being much more homogenous than ichthyosaurs or plesiosaurs, but they were more varied than I have given them credit for.


@Halichoeres - that's preposterous. As saltwater animals, they obviously would have used shipworms as their intestinal symbiotes.

[Halichoeres]

@Halichoeres - that's preposterous. As saltwater animals, they obviously would have used shipworms as their intestinal symbiotes.

Balderdash. If they were primitively marine, that might make sense. Need I remind you that lizards have terrestrial origins? The termites accompanied them into the sea, clearly.