Our new mosasaur Khinjaria acuta (= "sharp dagger") is out in Cretaceous Research. A mouth full of teeth like knives and a face like a nightmare, Khinjaria was part of an exceedingly diverse fauna of top predators in the Maastrichtian of Morocco
Khinjaria was a large member of the subfamily Plioplatecarpinae. The skull was around 90 cm long and it grew to perhaps 7-8 meters / 25 feet, versus 6 meters / 20 feet for a great white shark
Khinjaria is represented by a disarticulated, but relatively complete skull- maxillae, dentary, most of the braincase, quadrate- from the lower part of Couche III of Sidi Chennane, in Khouribga Province
Like the related Goronyasaurus, the face in Khinjaria is short, the eyes are small and beady, the back of the skull is drawn out. Mosasaurs weren't pretty animals, but this one looks positively demonic
The teeth are dagger-like- long, straight, and flattened side-to-side, with a series of huge, bladelike teeth at the front of the jaws. The tooth shape is reminiscent of mako sharks- although a lot bigger. Makos are fish-eaters; Khinjaria likely ate big fish
Khinjaria was one of many apex predators- Thalassotitan, Hainosaurus, Prognathodon currii- found in the Maastrichtian of Morocco. Mosasaur-dominated food chains seem to have more big predators than other food chains. Something different about the Maastrichtian- or mosasaurs?
the paper can be found here: doi.org/10.1016/j.cret…
(art, naturally, by the incomparable @AndreyAtuchin)
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