Genus
Valid Extinct

Hainosaurus

Dollo 1885

Hainosaurus is an potentially valid extinct genus of marine reptiles belonging to the mosasaur family. It is one of the largest mosasaurs, though its size has been revised more than once. At first it was estimated to be 17 metres (56 ft), and the largest mosasaurid. During the 1990s, its size was revised to 15 metres (49 ft) long; more recently, Johan Lindgren estimated that it reached lengths of up to 12.2 metres (40 ft). It was one of the top marine predators of the Late Cretaceous. Like other giant mosasaurs, this giant predator preyed on turtles, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, cephalopods, sharks, fish, and smaller mosasaurs.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
16
Group
Mosasaures
Carnivore aquatic Terrestrial
Hainosaurus
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Fossil of Hainosaurus, an extinct reptile -- Took the photo at Natural History Museum of Bruxelles © Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia
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PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Mosasauridae Family
Tylosaurinae Subfamily
Hainosaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
12,2 m
Fossil sites 16 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇸🇪 Sweden
5
🇩🇪 Germany
3
🇵🇱 Poland
2
🇫🇷 France
2
🇷🇺 Russia
1
🇦🇶 Antarctica
1
🇺🇸 United States
1
🇲🇦 Morocco
1
Geological formations
Opoka
2
Vaals
1
Elrhaz
1
Snow Hill Island
1
Kopinge Sandstone
1
Craie de Meudon
1
Couche III
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
2
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
14
Species (2)
Hainosaurus boubker 72 Ma
Hainosaurus neumilleri 84 Ma
Images 11
Bibliography
Original description
J. J., Jr. Sepkoski. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
Bibliography (10)
T. H. Rempert, B. P. Martens, and A. P. M. Vinkeles Melchers. 2022. First Record of a Tylosaurine Mosasaur from the Latest Cretaceous Phosphates of Morocco. Open Journal of Geology 12:883-906 DOI ↗
J. J. Hornung, M. Reich, and U. Frerichs. 2018. A mosasaur fauna (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Hannover, northern Germany. Alcheringa 42(4):543-559 DOI ↗
J. J. Hornung and M. Reich. 2015. Tylosaurine mosasaurs (Squamata) from the Late Cretaceous of northern Germany. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 94(1):55-71 DOI ↗
N. Bardet. 2012. The mosasaur collections of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle of Paris. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 183(1):35-53 DOI ↗
M. S. Fernández and Z. Gasparini. 2012. Campanian and Maastrichtian mosasaurs from Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonia, Argentina. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 183(2):93-102 DOI ↗
J. E. Martin. 2007. A North American Hainosaurus (Squamata: Mosasauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of southern South Dakota. Geological Society of America Special Paper 427:199-207 DOI ↗
J. W. M. Jagt, J. Lindgren, and M. Machalski, A. Radwankski. 2005. New records of the tylosaurine mosasaur Hainosaurus from the Campanian-Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of central Poland. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences — Geologie en Mijnbouw 84(3):303-306 DOI ↗
J. W. M. Jagt. 2005. Stratigraphic ranges of mosasaurs in Belgium and the Netherlands (Late Cretaceous) and cephalopod-based correlations with North America. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences — Geologie en Mijnbouw 84(3):283-301 DOI ↗
J. Lindgren. 2005. The first record of Hainosaurus (Reptilia: Mosasauridae) from Sweden. Journal of Paleontology 79(6):1157-1165 DOI ↗
A. O. Averianov and A. A. Yarkov. 2004. On the occurrence of a giant flying reptile (Pterosauria) in the terminal Late Cretaceous of the Lower Volga Region. Paleontological Journal 38(6):669-671