18" Fossil Mosasaur (Halisaurus) Jaw Section with Teeth - Morocco

Fossil Mosasaur (Halisaurus) Jaw Section with Teeth - Morocco #345192

This is an 18" long fossil mosasaur jaw section with several intact and unerupted teeth, collected from the Upper Cretaceous phosphate deposits in the Oulad Abdoun Basin of Morocco. It is the right mandible from a mosasaur of the genus/species Halisaurus arambouri.

Comes with an acrylic display stand to assist with presentation.

There are multiple repaired cracks through the jaw, many of which required gap fill restoration to piece back together. Most of the teeth have at least one repaired crack through them and I suspect the third tooth from the anterior end is a composite from another mosasaur.

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

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.

More About Mosasaurs