Yaguarasaurus
Yaguarasaurus was a big, swimming lizard that lived in the sea during the time of the dinosaurs. It was a mosasaur, not a dinosaur, and it hunted fish and other sea creatures with its long, toothy jaws.12
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as long as 5 dogs nose to tail🍌as long as 28 bananas end to end🏊could swim the length of a big swimming pool (50 m) in 4.7 secondsHow big was Yaguarasaurus compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Yaguarasaurus lived about 90 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.1
The first fossils of Yaguarasaurus were found in a limestone bed near Yaguará, Colombia, in a place called Cueva Rica.1
The first skull of Yaguarasaurus was 47 centimeters (19 inches) long, but a later skull was 87 centimeters (34 inches) long, meaning some individuals were much bigger.1
Yaguarasaurus is one of the most complete mosasaurs ever found in South America.1
There are two known species of Yaguarasaurus: Y. columbianus from Colombia and Y. regiomontanus from Mexico.12
Scientists are not sure exactly how Yaguarasaurus is related to other mosasaurs. Some think it belongs to a group called Yaguarasaurinae, while others think it is a primitive plioplatecarpine.1
Most asked questions about Yaguarasaurus
?How big was Yaguarasaurus?
About 5 metres (16 feet) long based on the first skull. A later, bigger skull suggests some individuals were larger.1
?What did Yaguarasaurus eat?
It was a marine lizard that hunted fish and other sea creatures with its long, toothy jaws.1
?Was Yaguarasaurus a dinosaur?
No, it was a mosasaur, a marine lizard, not a dinosaur.1
?Where was Yaguarasaurus found?
In a limestone bed near Yaguará, Colombia, in a place called Cueva Rica.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Yaguarasaurus
- Named by
- Páramo 19942
- Group
- Mosasaurs
- Family / clade
- Mosasauridae2
- Classification
- Mosasauroidea2
- Age of the rocks
- 94 to 86 million years (Turonian / Coniacian)2
- Rock formations
- Villeta, Agua Nueva2
- Countries
- Colombia, Mexico2
- Fossil records
- 6 in the Paleobiology Database2
- Discovery
- Yaguarasaurus was named in 1994 by Colombian paleontologist María Páramo. The first fossils were an articulated skull, some vertebrae, and ribs found near Yaguará, Huila, Colombia.12
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Yaguarasaurus belongs to its own subfamily Yaguarasaurinae or is a basal member of the Plioplatecarpinae.1
Where the facts come from
- Yaguarasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Yaguarasaurus 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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