Carinodens

Carinodens
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian 70.6–66 Ma
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Jaw of Carinodens belgicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Clade: †Mosasauria
Family: †Mosasauridae
Tribe: †Globidensini
Genus: †Carinodens
Thurmond, 1969
Species
  • C. fraasi (Dollo, 1913) (type)
  • C. belgicus (Woodward 1891)
  • C. minalmamar (Schulp, Bardet & Bouya 2009)
  • C. palistinicus (Kaddumi 2009)
Synonyms
  • Compressidens (Dollo 1924, preoccupied)
  • Globidens fraasi (Dollo 1913)
  • Bottosaurus belgicus (Woodward 1891)

Carinodens is an extinct genus of Cretaceous marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. "Carinodens" means "keel teeth" and was named in 1969 as a replacement name for Compressidens, "compressed teeth", which was already in use for a gadilidan scaphopod mollusk.[1]

Carinodens is widely considered a sister taxon to Globidens classified within the tribe Globidensini. Like its close relative, Carinodens also possesses distinctive round, blunt teeth for crushing primitive clams and oysters. Most of the cranial elements known from the genus have been recovered from deposits in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the only known postcranial material being known from deposits of latest Maastrichtian age in Jordan.[2][3] Other materials have been discovered in Brazil, Morocco, Russia, Ukraine and Denmark.[3][4]

  1. ^ J. T. Thurmond. 1969. New name for the mosasaur Compressidens Dollo, 1924. Journal of Paleontology 43(5):1298
  2. ^ Kaddumi H. F. 2009. The first and most complete Carinodens (Squamata: Mosasauridae) skeleton yet with a description of a new species from the Harrana Fauna. In: Fossils of the Harrana Fauna and the Adjacent Areas. Publications of the Eternal River Museum of Natural History, Amman, pp 49-64
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SchulpAngola was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference M18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).