Halisaurus
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Halisaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous |
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| Skeleton in Thermopolis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Superfamily: | †Mosasauroidea |
| Family: | †Mosasauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Halisaurinae |
| Genus: | †Halisaurus |
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Halisaurus ("Ocean Lizard") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. With a length of 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft), it was small compared to most other mosasaurs. It was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1869, but renamed Baptosaurus by Marsh in 1870, who thought the name was already in use (preoccupied) by a fish named Halosaurus. According to modern rules, a difference of a letter is enough and the substitute name is unneeded.
Halisaurus was distributed throughout the world. It is known from Appalachia (eastern portion of the U.S. during the Cretaceous, divided from the western portion by the Western Interior Seaway), northern Africa, Peru, and parts of mainland Europe.
The genus Phosphorosaurus was synonymized by some authors, including Bardet et al. (2005) and Lingham-Soliar (1996), but subsequent research indicates that Phosphorosaurus is distinct from Halisaurus.
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