Tribe
Valid Extinct

Mosasaurini

Russell 1967

Mosasaurini is an extinct tribe of mosasaurine mosasaurs who lived during the Late Cretaceous and whose fossils have been found in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania, with questionable occurrences in Asia. They are highly derived mosasaurs, containing genera like Plotosaurus, having unique adaptations to fast swimming speeds, or Mosasaurus, which is among the largest known marine reptiles.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
20
Group
Mosasaures
Carnivore aquatic Terrestrial
Mosasaurini
click to enlarge
Mosasaurus skeleton; Maastricht Natural History Museum, The Netherlands. © Wilson44691 · Public domain · Wikimedia
Mosasaurini
Mosasaurini
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Mosasauridae Family
›
Mosasaurinae Subfamily
›
Mosasaurini Tribe
Fossil sites 20 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇦 Morocco
7
🇺🇸 United States
6
🇧🇷 Brazil
3
🇯🇵 Japan
2
🇮🇱 Israel
1
🇨🇱 Chile
1
Geological formations
Moreno
6
Mishash
1
Hiraiso
1
Gramame
1
Couche III
1
Isoai
1
Quiriquina
1
Phosphates
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
18
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
2
Synonyms (1)
Liodon asiaticum nomen dubium, species not entered Mosasaurini
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
D. A. Russell. 1967. Systematics and morphology of American mosasaurs (Reptilia, Sauria). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 23:1-252
Bibliography (9)
N. Bardet, D. Desmares, and R. Sanchez-Pellicer, S. Gardin. 2021. Rediscovery of “Liodon” asiaticum Répelin, 1915, a Mosasaurini (Squamata, Mosasauridae, Mosasaurinae) from the Upper Cretaceous of the vicinity of Jerusalem – Biostratigraphical insights from microfossils. Comptes Rendus Palevol 20(20):351-372 DOI ↗
T. Kato, Y. Nakajima, and K. Shiseki, H. Ando. 2021. Advanced mosasaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Nakaminato Group in Japan. Island Arc 30:e12431 DOI ↗
E. Frey, E. W. A. Mulder, and W. Stinnesbeck, C. Salazar, L. A. H. Quinzio-Sinn. 2016. A mosasaur, cf. Plotosaurus, from the upper Maastrichtian Quiriquina Formation in Central Chile. Cretaceous Research 61:17-25 DOI ↗
H. Cappetta, N. Bardet, and X. Pereda Suberbiola, S. Adnet, D. Akkrim, M. Amalik, A. Benabdallah. 2014. Marine vertebrate faunas from the Maastrichtian phosphates of Benguérir (Ganntour Basin, Morocco): Biostratigraphy, palaeobiogeography and palaeoecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 409:217-238 DOI ↗
A. R. H. LeBlanc, M. W. Caldwell, and N. Bardet. 2012. 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 DOI ↗
J. Lindgren, M. W. Caldwell, and J. W. Jagt. 2008. New data on the postcranial anatomy of the California mosasaur Plotosaurus bennisoni (Camp, 1942) (Upper Cretaceous: Maastrichtian), and the taxonomic status of P. tuckeri (Camp, 1942). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(4):1043-1054 DOI ↗
K. Workman Ford. 2006. Stratigraphic positions of marine reptile and dinosaur specimens in the Moreno Formation, in the Tumey Hills and Panoche Hills, Fresno County, California. Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35:407-410
L. B. de Carvalho. 1996. A ocorrência de lagartos marinhos (Mosasauridae - Lepidosauria) e sua associação faunística no cretáceo da Bacia Pernambuco Paraíba, nordeste do Brasil.
C. L. Camp. 1942. California mosasaurs. Memoirs of the University of California 13(1):1-68