Moanasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Superfamily: | †Mosasauroidea |
Family: | †Mosasauridae |
Tribe: | †Mosasaurini |
Genus: |
Moanasaurus Wiffen, 1980 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Moanasaurus (From Māori moana "sea" and Greek sauros "lizard"; meaning "Sea Lizard") 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 a disarticulated skull, vertebrae, ribs and paddle bones. It reached 12 m in length and the skull is 78 cm, which shows that Moanasaurus was one of the largest in the family of mosasaurinae.