Hainosaurus
Hainosaurus was a huge marine lizard that ruled the Late Cretaceous seas. It was one of the biggest mosasaurs, growing up to 12 metres (40 feet) long. This powerful predator ate turtles, plesiosaurs, sharks, and even other mosasaurs.1
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Fun facts
Hainosaurus had more vertebrae in its neck and trunk (53) than its close relative Tylosaurus (35).1
Its tail was shorter than Tylosaurus's because it had fewer vertebrae with chevron bones.1
The first Hainosaurus fossil was discovered by a worker in a phosphate quarry in Belgium in 1885. The worker sold the eight vertebrae he found to a museum.1
Some scientists think Hainosaurus might actually be a species of Tylosaurus, but others keep it as a separate genus because of differences in its teeth.1
Hainosaurus lived during the Campanian and Maastrichtian ages, about 84 to 66 million years ago.4
Isolated teeth of Hainosaurus have been found in southern Sweden, showing it lived in the ancient seas that covered that area.2
Most asked questions about Hainosaurus
?How big was Hainosaurus?
Hainosaurus was one of the largest mosasaurs, reaching up to about 12.2 metres (40 feet) long, though earlier estimates were larger.13
?What did Hainosaurus eat?
It ate turtles, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, cephalopods, sharks, fish, and smaller mosasaurs. A Belgian specimen had swallowed part of a giant turtle.13
?Was Hainosaurus a dinosaur?
No, Hainosaurus was a marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family, not a dinosaur.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Hainosaurus
- Named by
- Dollo 18854
- Group
- Mosasaurs
- Family / clade
- Mosasauridae4
- Classification
- Mosasauroidea4
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)4
- Rock formations
- Opoka, Kopinge Sandstone, Pierre Shale4
- Countries
- Sweden, Germany, Poland, France, Russia, USA4
- Fossil records
- 16 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Louis Dollo named Hainosaurus in 1885 based on a near-complete skeleton found in a phosphate quarry near the Haine River in Belgium. The skeleton was excavated with the help of an industrialist named Leopold Bernard, after whom the species H. bernardi was named.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Hainosaurus is a distinct genus or should be considered a species of Tylosaurus.1
Where the facts come from
- Hainosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- The first record of Hainosaurus (Reptilia: Mosasauridae) from Sweden (cambridge.org)
- The gigantic, shark-toothed, small-flippered, long-bodied, sea-going predatory lizard that is Hainosaurus | Scientific American (scientificamerican.com)
- Hainosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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Mosasaurus
Prognathodon
Tylosaurus
Platecarpus
Clidastes
Globidens
Tyrannosaurus
Triceratops
Velociraptor
Spinosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Parasaurolophus