Prognathodon

Prognathodon Temporal range: Late Cretaceous PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil at Royal Tyrrell Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	†Mosasauridae
Tribe:	†Prognathodontini
Genus:	†Prognathodon
Species
P. currii P. giganteus P. overtoni P. saturator P. solvayi P. stadtmani P. waiparaensis

Prognathodon ('forejaw tooth') is an extinct genus of mosasaur squamate reptile.

Description

Restoration of P. saturator with bilobed tail

It had protective bony rings surrounding its eye sockets, indicating it lived in deep water. Its teeth are similar to those of some Triassic placodonts, so it may have lived a similar lifestyle, feeding on shellfish, large fish, and sea turtles.

Discovery

Its fossil remains have been found in the U.S.A (South Dakota and Colorado), Canada (Alberta), Belgium, New Zealand, Israel, Morocco, Angola, and The Netherlands. In 1998, an intact fossil skull was found in the Maastricht limestone quarries. Shortly after, it was nicknamed "Bèr", and put on display in the Maastricht Natural History Museum. This specimen was then identified as a Prognathodon, and received the species name Prognathodon saturator.

P. overtoni

A very large specimen found in Israel was for some time referred to as Oronosaurus, but is now regarded as a species of Prognathodon, P. currii.^[1] The recent discovery of 2 nearly complete fossils (one which included flippers) in Alberta, Canada have given scientists new data as previous fossils only contained the remains of the skull. One fossil included stomach contents, consisting of elements pertaining to a sea turtle, tarpon-size and trout-size fishes, and a possible cephalopod.^[2]

A new fossil found in 2008 and described in 2013 belonging to a 1.8 m juvenile Prognathodon was found in Jordan's Harrana Site. The fossil was remarkable in that it preserved the outline of the mosasaur's tail fins, revealing that Prognathodon, like Platecarpus and later mosasaurs also had a bilobed tail fluke resembling a downturned shark's tail, the shape of which may have aided the creature in surfacing, as well as attacking prey. The discovery also lends evidence to the theory that later mosasaurs were even more well-adapted to the lifestyle first occupied by the ichthyosaurs.^[3]

Classification

P. currii skull cast at the Geological Museum in Copenhagen

P. saturator

Cladogram of mosasaurs and related taxa modified from Aaron R. H. Leblanc, Michael W. Caldwell and Nathalie Bardet, 2012:^[4]

Diet

A specimen of Prognathodon kianda, from Bentiaba, Angola, shows gut contents of three other mosasaurs including of its own species.^[5] In the 2011 film March of the Dinosaurs, Prognathodon are shown being able to attack, kill, and eat large species of dinosaurs such as Edmontosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, though whether this actually occurred is debatable.

References