Kaikaifilu
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Kaikaifilu Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Superfamily: | †Mosasauroidea |
| Family: | †Mosasauridae |
| Genus: |
†Kaikaifilu Otero et al., 2016 |
| Species: | †K. hervei |
| Binomial name | |
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Kaikaifilu hervei Otero et al., 2016 |
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Kaikaifilu is a genus of tylosaurine mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica, just before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. It is among the largest members of the tylosaurines, a group of marine lizards that lived during the Cretaceous.
The preserved portions of the skull in the holotype of Kaikaifilu total about 0.7 metres (2.3 ft) in length, suggesting a total skull length of about 1.1–1.2 metres (3.6–3.9 ft). This is larger than other contemporary mosasaurs, including Taniwhasaurus antarcticus, which has a skull length of 0.65 metres (2.1 ft). The sutures in the skull are fused, the ectepicondyle and entepycondyle (ridges on the humerus that provide muscle attachment sites) are well-developed, and the internal texture of the bone is relatively dense, suggesting that this individual was an adult.
Asides from its size, a unique combination of other traits distinguish Kaikaifilu from its relatives. There is a prominent ridge in front of the top margin of the eye socket, and there is also a ridge between the two nostrils (unlike Taniwhasaurus). The shape of the frontal bone also differs from that of Moanasaurus and Rikisaurus; additionally, the width of the skull contracts in front of the eye socket, and the head of the humerus is vertically very thick.
Notably, the teeth of Kaikaifilu are heterodont, meaning that there is more than one distinct type of teeth: medium-sized conical teeth without any wear facets; medium-sized conical teeth with two or three wear facets on their outside and inside surfaces; very large conical teeth without any wear facets; and small, relatively blunt teeth with D-shaped cross-sections and soft enamel (which probably represent growing teeth). The only other heterodont mosasaur known is Eremiasaurus.
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