Tethysaurus, the odd mosasaur
Tethysaurus nopscai (Bardet et al. 2003) is a mosasaur of the Early Turonian (Late Cretaceous) from Morocco. Wiki puts its length at about 10 feet (3 meters), but the skull here is less than a foot long. I haven’t seen a complete specimen yet.
Tiny hands
The hand/paddles are vestiges, producing a snake-like morphology. Other mosasaurs have much larger paddles, but Aigialosaurus, a closer relative, likewise has relatively smaller paddles. The tiny paddles has led to some thoughts regarding snake ancestry.
Figure 1. Tethysaurus the small aigialosaur/mosasaur with tiny forelimbs. I have not attempted to reconstruct the shoulder girdle or forelimb pending a better image to work from. The bone bordering the naris is identified as the septomaxilla.
The large reptile tree nests Tethysaurus with Aigialosaurus and both with Varanus, distinct from Adriosaurus and the origin of most snakes and Lanthanotes and the origin of pipe snakes. So the small forelimbs appear by convergence with pre-snakes.
Figure 2. Tethysaurus prepared by the Fossil Shack, image from Wiki. Click to enlarge.
Seems like one to several Tethysaurus specimens are known from the private market (Fig. 2). That doesn’t matter to me. I’d like to see more data on the tail and hind limb if possible.
As always, I encourage readers to see specimens, make observations and come to your own conclusions. Test. Test. And test again.
Evidence and support in the form of nexus, pdf and jpeg files will be sent to all who request additional data.
References
Bardet N, Pereda Suberbiola X and Jalil N-E 2003. A new mosasauroid (Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) of Morocco. Comptes Rendus Palevol 2:607-616.
2012-11-10 20:01:24
Source: http://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/tethysaurus-the-odd-mosasaur/
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