Genus
Valid Extinct

Yaguarasaurus

Páramo 1994

Yaguarasaurus is an extinct genus of mosasauroid from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) period of Colombia, South America. The remains discovered were defined as a new genus and species of mosasaurid, Yaguarasaurus columbianus, by the Colombian paleontologist María Páramo, former director of the Museo de Geología José Royo y Gómez of INGEOMINAS in Bogotá. The first fossils remains of this animal suggested a cranial length of 47 centimetres (19 in) and a total length of 5 metres (16 ft); an additional skull that measures 87 centimetres (34 in) long implies a larger size.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
6
Group
Mosasaures
Carnivore aquatic Terrestrial
Yaguarasaurus
click to enlarge
Cráneo desarticulado y vértebras cervicales del mosasáurido Yaguarasaurus columbianus. Museo Geólogico José Royo y Gómez, Bogotá. © Rextron · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
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Classification
Mosasauridae Family
›
Plioplatecarpinae Subfamily
›
Yaguarasaurus Genus
Fossil sites 6 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇴 Colombia
5
🇲🇽 Mexico
1
Geological formations
Villeta
4
Agua Nueva
1
Temporal distribution
Coniacian (89.8–85.7 Ma)
1
Turonian (93.9–89.8 Ma)
5
Species (2)
Yaguarasaurus columbianus 94 Ma
Yaguarasaurus regiomontanus 94 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
M. E. Páramo. 1994. Posicion sistematica de un reptil marino con base en los restos fosiles encontrados en capas del Cretacico superior en Yaguara (Huila). Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 19(72):63-80
Bibliography (4)
H. E. Rivera-Sylva, N. R. Longrich, and J. M. Padilla-Gutierrez, J. R. Guzmán-Gutiérrez, V. M. Escalante-Hernández, J. G. González- Ávila. 2024. A new species of Yaguarasaurus (Mosasauridae: Plioplatecarpinae) from the Agua Nueva Formation (Upper Turonian – ?Lower Coniacian) of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 133(104694) DOI ↗
M. E. Páramo-Fonseca. 2011. Mosasauroids from Colombia. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 182(2):103-109 DOI ↗
M. E. Páramo-Fonseca. 2000. Yaguarasaurus columbianus (Reptilia, Mosasauridae), a primitive mosasaur from the Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) of Colombia. Historical Biology 14(1-2):121-131 DOI ↗
M. E. Páramo. 1994. Posicion sistematica de un reptil marino con base en los restos fosiles encontrados en capas del Cretacico superior en Yaguara (Huila). Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 19(72):63-80