Dino card No. 0719 of 2,015

Globidens

Say it: GLOH-bih-dens

Name means: “globe tooth”1

Ate: MeatMosasaursLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Globidens was a marine lizard that lived in the warm, shallow seas of the Late Cretaceous. It had strange, round teeth like little balls, perfect for crushing the hard shells of its prey. Unlike many other sea reptiles, Globidens was a shell-crushing specialist!1

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

90 to 66 million years ago2

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

North America (USA: Alabama, South Dakota, Kansas, etc.), Africa (Morocco, Angola, Egypt), Middle East (Syria, Jordan), and South America (Brazil)2 1

Food

Meat1

Length

5 to 6 m1

Artist's life restoration of Globidens — How Globidens may have looked, by Dmitry Bogdanov. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Globidens had round, globe-shaped teeth that were different from the sharp teeth of most other mosasaurs.1

Scientists found stomach contents inside a Globidens fossil from South Dakota, showing it ate clams called inoceramids.1

Globidens lived about 84 to 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.2

The first Globidens fossil was a partial skull and a neck bone found in Alabama, USA, and named in 1912 by Charles W. Gilmore.1

Globidens had a strong, robust skull and a powerful bite to crush the shells of its prey.1

Fossils of Globidens have been found on four continents: North America, Africa, South America, and Asia (Middle East).1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Globidens
Named by: Gilmore 19122
Group: Mosasaurs
Family / clade: Mosasauridae2
Classification: Mosasauroidea2
Age of the rocks: 90 to 66 million years (Coniacian to Maastrichtian)2
Rock formations: Pierre Shale, Wolfe City/Sprinkle, Phosphates2
Countries: USA, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Angola2
Fossil records: 32 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Globidens was first described in 1912 by Charles W. Gilmore, based on an incomplete skull and a neck bone from Alabama, USA. The name means 'globe tooth' because of its round teeth.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how many species of Globidens existed, as some fossils have been moved to other groups like Prognathodon.1

Where the facts come from

Globidens (en.wikipedia.org)
Globidens in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.