Carinodens
Extinct genus of lizards / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Carinodens is an extinct genus of Cretaceous marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. "Carinodens" means "keel teeth" and was named in 1969 as a replacement name for Compressidens, "compressed teeth", which was already in use for a gadilidan scaphopod mollusk.[1]
Carinodens | |
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Jaw of Carinodens belgicus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Clade: | †Mosasauria |
Family: | †Mosasauridae |
Tribe: | †Globidensini |
Genus: | †Carinodens Thurmond, 1969 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Carinodens is widely considered a sister taxon to Globidens classified within the tribe Globidensini. Like its close relative, Carinodens also possesses distinctive round, blunt teeth for crushing primitive clams and oysters. Most of the cranial elements known from the genus have been recovered from deposits in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the only known postcranial material being known from deposits of latest Maastrichtian age in Jordan.[2][3] Other materials have been discovered in Brazil, Morocco, Russia, Ukraine and Denmark.[3][4]