Aigialosaurus
Aigialosaurus was an early marine lizard that lived about 100 million years ago. It was small, only about as long as a cat, and it is one of the oldest known relatives of the giant mosasaurs. This little reptile swam in warm seas near what is now Croatia.13
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Fun facts
Aigialosaurus is the oldest known member of the group that led to giant mosasaurs, which were top predators in the Late Cretaceous seas.1
The only complete skeleton of Aigialosaurus dalmaticus is 65 cm (2.13 ft) long, making it much smaller than its later relatives.1
Its hip bone had a unique shape: a long ilium with well-developed front and back processes, which helped scientists understand how mosasaur hips evolved.2
Aigialosaurus lived during the Cenomanian age, about 99.7 to 94.3 million years ago, in a warm, shallow sea.13
The type specimen was found between Starigrad and Vrboska on Hvar Island, Croatia, in marine limestone.3
Some scientists once thought another fossil, Opetiosaurus, was a second species of Aigialosaurus, but recent studies disagree.1
Most asked questions about Aigialosaurus
?Was Aigialosaurus a dinosaur?
No, it was a marine lizard, not a dinosaur. It belonged to a group called mosasauroids that are more closely related to snakes.1
?How big was Aigialosaurus?
It was small, about 65 cm long, which is roughly the size of a cat.1
?What did Aigialosaurus eat?
Scientists are not sure, but because it was a small marine lizard living in warm seas, it probably ate small fish and other tiny sea creatures.1
?When did Aigialosaurus live?
It lived during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous, about 99.7 to 94.3 million years ago.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Aigialosaurus
- Named by
- Kramberger 18923
- Group
- Mosasaurs
- Family / clade
- Aigialosauridae3
- Classification
- Mosasauroidea3
- Age of the rocks
- 100 to 94 million years (Cenomanian)3
- Rock formations
- Starigrad Limestone3
- Countries
- Croatia3
- Fossil records
- 3 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Also known as
- Aigialosaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)3
- Discovery
- Aigialosaurus was named by Croatian paleontologist Kramberger in 1892, based on a nearly complete skeleton found on Hvar Island, Croatia.13
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating whether Aigialosaurus was fully marine or lived partly on land, because its skeleton shows features of both lifestyles.1
Where the facts come from
- Aigialosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Redescription of Aigialosaurus dalmaticus Kramberger, 1892, a Cenomanian mosasauroid lizard from Hvar Island, Croatia (cdnsciencepub.com)
- Aigialosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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