| Moanasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Infraphylum: | Gnathostomata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Subclass: | Diapsida |
| Infraclass: | Lepidosauromorpha |
| Superorder: | Lepidosauria |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Mosasauridae |
| Subfamily: | Mosasaurinae |
| Genus: | Moanasaurus Wiffen, 1980 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Moanasaurus (From Māori moana "sea" and Greek sauros "lizard"; meaning "Sea Lizard") was a genus of mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossil remains have been discovered in the North Island of New Zealand. Moanasaurus was a very large mosasaurine known originally from a disarticulated skull, vertebrae, ribs and paddle bones. It reached 12 m in length and the skull is 78 cm, which shows that Moanasaurus was one of the largest in the family of mosasaurinae.
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