Eremiasaurus
Name:
Eremiasaurus.
Phonetic: Eh-ree-my-ah-sore-us.
Named By: Aaron R. H. Leblanc, Michael W.
Cladwell and Nathalie Bardet - 2012.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata,
Mosasauridae, Mosasaurinae.
Species: E. heterodontus (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: Morocco.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Two individual specimens,
both of partial skulls and vertebrae.
A kind of mosasaur known from North Africa, the species name of E. heterodontus means different-toothed and is in reference to the different kinds of teeth that are present in the jaws of known Eremiasaurus specimens. This is taken to indicate that Eremiasaurus may have been a generalist carnivore that was not especially selective about what prey it went after. In depth Study of Eremiasaurus fossil material has led to it being thought to be similar to Prognathodon, a mosasaur better suited to feeding upon armoured prey like ammonites and turtles, but is also known to have taken prey like fish. Eremiasaurus is also noted as having a large number of pygal vertebrae (vertebrae from the hip region).
Further reading
A new mosasaurine from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) phosphates
of Morocco and its implications for mosasaurine systematics - Journal
of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (1): 82–104. - A.R.H. Leblanc, M. W.
Caldwell & N. Bardet - 2012.
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