6.8" Mosasaur (Halisaurus) Jaw Section with Five Teeth - Morocco

Mosasaur (Halisaurus) Jaw Section with Five Teeth - Morocco #260365

This is a 6.8" long section of mandible from the left side of the jaw, complete with five teeth from the mosasaur Halisaurus sp., collected from the Upper Cretaceous phosphate deposits in the Oulad Abdoun Basin of Morocco. Teeth are naturally associated with the jaw and have not been composited.

There are a couple repaired cracks through the jaw and at the bases of two of the teeth. It comes with an acrylic display stand.

It comes from the massive phosphate deposits in the Oulad Abdoun Basin near Khouribga, Morocco. These deposits are mined for phosphate, one of Morocco's biggest exports. The fossils are collected as a byproduct of the mining operations, saving them from certain destruction by the rock crusher.

Artists reconstruction of a Halisaurus. By Nobu Tamura

Halisaurus is a comparatively small Mosasaur, maxing out at around 10 feet in length. It was a sleek and likely quick member of the family. Besides its small size, it had distinctive backward-curving teeth likely used for grasping slippery prey like fish. A paper describing this species can be found below.

Description of new specimens of Halisaurus arambourgi BARDET & PEREDA SOBERBIOLA, 2005 and the relationships of halisaurinae

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