Pluridens
Name: Pluridens
(Many teeth).
Phonetic: Plur-e-dens.
Named By: T. Lingham-Soliar - 1998.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata,
Mosasauroidea, Mosasauridae, Halisaurinae.
Species: P. walkeri (type),
P. calabaria.
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains, but
roughly about 5 meters long.
Known locations: Niger - Farin-Doutchi
Formation. Nigeria - Nkporo Shale Formation.
Time period: Campanian to Maastrichtian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Dentaries (jaws).
At
the time of writing Pluridens is only known from
lower jaws, but
these show that this mosasaur
was a highly specialised hunter. The
lower jaw of Pluridens had at least twenty-eight
tightly packed
teeth, more than in other known mosasaurs, and hence the
inspiration for the name Pluridens which means
‘many teeth’. The
lower jaw is also elongated with a slender build, something that
would have greatly reduced water resistance when moving through the
water. This jaw is not something that is designed for crushing
through shell and bone, but instead Pluridens
probably utilised a
quick snapping action to catch prey such as fish and squid, or thinly
shelled invertebrates.
Pluridens
has often been written as a synonym to Halisaurus,
something
referenced to a 2005 study by Lindgren & Siverson.
Since this time however most other authors have continued to classify
Pluridens as distinct from Halisaurus.
It is still
recognised that
isolated mosasaur vertebrae similar to those seen in Halisaurus
are
known from the same approximate locations as the Pluridens
type
fossils, and with this in mind, most researchers continue to regard
Pluridens as a halisaurine mosasaur, similar to Halisaurus
in build,
but still a distinct genus.
Further reading
- A new mosasaur Pluridens walkeri from the Upper
Cretaceous,
Maastrichtian of the Iullemmeden Basin, southwest Niger. -
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(4):709-707. T.
Lingham-Soliar - 1998.
- Halisaurus sternbergii, a small mosasaur with
an intercontinental
distribution. - Journal of Paleontology 79 (4): 763–773.
- J. Lindgren & M. Siverson - 2005.
- A new species of Pluridens (Mosasauridae:
Halisaurinae) from
the upper Campanian of Southern Nigeria. Cretaceous Research
64:36-44. - N. R. Longrich - 2016.
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