Yezosaurus

Taniwhasaurus is an extinct genus of mosasaurs that lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. It is a member of the subfamily Tylosaurinae, a lineage of mosasaurs characterized by a long toothless conical rostrum. Two valid species are attached to the genus, T. oweni and T. antarcticus, known respectively from the fossil record of present-day New Zealand and Antarctica. T. 'capensis' from present-day South Africa represents a chimera of two different mosasaur genera, potentially Prognathodon and Taniwhasaurus, but not identifiable at the species level. The other formerly assigned species, T. 'mikasaensis' from present-day Japan, remains problematic due to the fragmentary state of the attributed fossils. The generic name literally means "taniwha lizard", referring to a supernatural aquatic creature from Māori mythology.

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