恐龍卡第 1621 張，共 2 027 張

Selmasaurus

名字的意思： “Selma lizard, after the Selma Group of rocks in Alabama”1

吃：肉滄龍類白堊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Selmasaurus was a small, fierce marine lizard that lived in the shallow seas of North America during the time of the dinosaurs. It had a stiff skull that could not stretch like other mosasaurs, so it ate smaller prey. Two species are known, one from Alabama and one from Kansas.1

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

86 到 72 百萬年前2

白堊紀晚期

化石發現地

Alabama and Kansas, USA2 1

長度

3 到 5 m (9.8 到 16 ft)1

最高速度

時速約 38 公里（24 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 5 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 28 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長能在 4.7 秒內游完一座大泳池（50 公尺）

Selmasaurus 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡算算數學。什麼都不會被儲存或傳送出去。

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Selmasaurus 時速約 38 公里 (24 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Selmasaurus had the fewest teeth of any known mosasaur, making it unusual among its relatives.1

Unlike most mosasaurs, Selmasaurus could not widen its jaws to swallow big prey. Its skull was stiff and did not have the flexible joints that other mosasaurs used to eat large animals.1

The first Selmasaurus fossil was a skull found in Alabama, but for many years no one knew exactly which rock layer it came from. In 1998, scientists used tiny fossils from the skull to figure out its age.1

One species, Selmasaurus johnsoni, was discovered by a family in Kansas in 1996 and donated to a museum. Its skull is one of the most complete mosasaur skulls ever found.1

Selmasaurus lived about 86 to 80 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Stable isotope studies suggest that Selmasaurus johnsoni sometimes swam in deeper, open ocean waters, not just near the shore like many other plioplatecarpines.1

Selmasaurus 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Selmasaurus 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

你們都在問

關於 Selmasaurus 最常被問的問題

?How big was Selmasaurus?

Selmasaurus was a small mosasaur, about 3 to 5 metres (10 to 16 feet) long.1

?What did Selmasaurus eat?

Selmasaurus was a predator that ate smaller prey. Because its skull could not stretch open wide, it could not swallow large animals like other mosasaurs.1

?Is Selmasaurus a dinosaur?

No, Selmasaurus is not a dinosaur. It is a marine lizard called a mosasaur that lived in the sea during the time of the dinosaurs.1

給恐龍專家

學名: Selmasaurus
命名者: Wright and Shannon 19882
類群: 滄龍類
科 / 演化支: Mosasauridae2
分類: Mosasauroidea2
岩石的年代: 86 到 72 百萬年 (Santonian / Campanian)2
岩層: Mooreville Chalk, Niobrara2
國家: 美國2
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 2 筆2
發現: Selmasaurus was first named in 1988 by Kenneth Wright and Samuel Shannon, based on a skull found in Alabama. The species S. russelli was named after paleontologist Dale Russell. A second species, S. johnsoni, was discovered in Kansas in 1996 and named in 2008.1
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating exactly how Selmasaurus is related to other mosasaurs. Some think it is closely related to Ectenosaurus, while others place it in a group called Selmasaurini with Gavialimimus and Goronyosaurus.1