Description
Large Mosasaur Tooth in Matrix
This large Mosasaur tooth in matrix measures 9cm long including the root. It is approximately 75 million years old and dates from the Cretaceous period. It comes from, Oued Zem, in Khouribga Province, Morocco. This specimen would be a superb addition to any fossil collection.
The Mosasaur was a large marine reptile that lived in the late Cretaceous period. Their name is a combination of the latin word ‘mosa’ and also the Greek word ‘saurus’. This was a very streamlined creature, with a broad and powerful tail. Their jaws were double hinged, similar to snakes, so they’re able to swallow their prey whole.
Mosasaurs thrived in shallow inland seas, approximately 80 to 66 million years ago. These weren’t dinosaurs, but air breathing reptiles, also giving birth to live young. These creatures were more closely related to todays monitor lizards and snakes, than dinosaurs. Mosasaurs were carnivorous, with their diet including ammonites, fish, plesiosaurs, and also marine turtles and birds. They grew to a huge size, with the largest specimens so far discovered being up to 15 metres long. Towards the end of the cretaceous period these were the principal marine predators.
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