Richard Pallardy is a freelance science writer based in Chicago. He has written for such publications as National Geographic, Science Magazine, New Scientist, and Discover Magazine.
Fossils from a huge, rare mosasaur with giant globular teeth have been unearthed in Texas, a new study reveals.
During the Late Cretaceous period , many iconic marine predators such as the dolphin-like ichthyosaurs and long-necked plesiosaurs succumbed to a changing climate and ensuing alterations to the marine ecosystem. Mosasaurs became the dominant predators in the shallow seas of the epoch, assuming niches once occupied by their better-known predecessors. These reptiles rapidly diversified, filling multiple niches in the volatile and prey-rich environment.
While most mosasaurs boasted a formidable array of dagger-like teeth, Globidens evolved blunt, rounded teeth that were suited to crushing the shells of turtles, ammonites and bivalves. The Western Interior Seaway, which bisected what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous, would have provided G. alabamaensis with a wide variety of shelled prey.
The fragments were discovered by a private fossil hunter in 2023 in the Ozan Formation in northeastern Texas. The deposit in which they were found dates to the Campanian Age and is just 8 inches thick. It has nonetheless proven to be rich in fossils, including other mosasaurs.
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