Dino card No. 0726 of 2,027

Gnathomortis

Say it: NATH-oh-MOR-tis

Name means: “jaws of death”1

Ate: MeatMosasaursLate CretaceousNot technically a dinosaur

Gnathomortis was a huge marine lizard that swam in the seas of Colorado 80 million years ago. It had powerful jaws and sharp teeth to catch fish and other sea creatures. This ancient predator was one of the biggest mosasaurs of its time.1 2

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

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Colorado, USA2 1

Food

Meat2

Length

10.5 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 58 bananas end to end

How big was Gnathomortis compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Gnathomortis was originally thought to be a species of Prognathodon, but scientists later gave it its own genus in 2020.1 3

Its name means 'jaws of death' because of its powerful bite.1

This marine lizard lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 80 to 72 million years ago.2

Gnathomortis reached about 10.5 meters (34 feet) in length, making it one of the larger mosasaurs.1

The only known fossil of Gnathomortis includes a partial skull and backbone, which helped scientists identify it as a new genus.1 3

It had a unique quadrate bone in its skull that was different from other mosasaurs, which helped scientists classify it.3

AI-made picture of Gnathomortis — An AI-made picture of how Gnathomortis might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Gnathomortis
Named by: Lively 20204
Group: Mosasaurs
Family / clade: Mosasauridae4
Classification: Mosasauroidea4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Mancos Shale4
Countries: USA4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossil of Gnathomortis was found in 1975 in the Mancos Shale of western Colorado. It was originally named Prognathodon stadtmani in 1999, but in 2020 scientist Joshua Lively gave it the new name Gnathomortis after more bones were prepared.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Gnathomortis fits in the mosasaur family tree. Some studies place it as a close relative of Globidens, while others think it is more primitive.3

Where the facts come from

Gnathomortis (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Redescription and Phylogenetic Assessment of ‘Prognathodon’ Stadtmani: Implications for Globidensini Monophyly and Character Homology in Mosasaurinae: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 40 , No 3 - Get Access (tandfonline.com)
Gnathomortis 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.

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