Genus
Valid Extinct

Moanasaurus

Wiffen 1980

Moanasaurus 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 holotype CD43, a disarticulated skull, vertebrae, ribs and flipper bones. The skull measures 78 cm (31 in) in length, which shows that Moanasaurus was one of the largest in the subfamily of Mosasaurinae. Researchers argue that some Antarctic Mosasaurus remains may be attributed to this genus.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Mosasaures
Carnivore aquatic Terrestrial
Moanasaurus
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Immagine di Default per il Tassobox Sauria © Fulvio314 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
Moanasaurus
Moanasaurus
Moanasaurus
Moanasaurus
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Mosasauridae Family
›
Mosasaurinae Subfamily
›
Moanasaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
12 m ⓘ
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇳🇿 New Zealand
2
🇦🇶 Antarctica
1
Geological formations
Tahora
2
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
1
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
2
Species (1)
Moanasaurus mangahouangae 84 Ma
Images 4
Bibliography
Original description
K. R. Wright. 1989. On the taxonomic status of Moanasaurus mangahouangae Wiffen (Squamata: Mosasauridae). Journal of Paleontology 63(1):126-127 DOI ↗
Bibliography (3)
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. Wiffen. 1990. New mosasaurs (Reptilia; Family Mosasauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 33(1):67-85 DOI ↗
J. Wiffen. 1980. Moanasaurus, a new genus of marine reptile (Family Mosasauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 23(4):507-528 DOI ↗