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Lot 8328
Small Mosasaur skull
3 December 2006, 11:00 PST
Los AngelesUS$4,000 - US$6,000
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Find your local specialistSmall Mosasaur skull
Late Cretaceous
Platecarpus
Morocco
Platecarpus is a Mosasaur or Sea Lizard, a distant relative of the Komodo Monitor Lizard. Mosasaurs were large lizards that swam the oceans of the world--and even some rivers--of the Late Cretaceous. They ranged in size from 3 feet to a truly gigantic 50 feet and possessed scales like their terrestrial relatives. It is argued that they never set flipper on land, and that they bore live young. Their feet were paddles and they swam by undulating their bodies in the same manner as snakes and crocodilians. The present specimen is from a small animal which would have measured approximately 9 to 10 feet in length. The sclerotic rings (bones of the eye) are large and well formed in this specimen These bones would have helped keep the eyes’ shape when the Mosasaur dove to deeper depths; they are just below the skin in the eye and the iris would have filled the inside of the sclerotic ring. The joint on the lower jaw (used to open the jaw wide for eating) is very visible. A complete skull with some restoration. Measures 13in
Platecarpus
Morocco
Platecarpus is a Mosasaur or Sea Lizard, a distant relative of the Komodo Monitor Lizard. Mosasaurs were large lizards that swam the oceans of the world--and even some rivers--of the Late Cretaceous. They ranged in size from 3 feet to a truly gigantic 50 feet and possessed scales like their terrestrial relatives. It is argued that they never set flipper on land, and that they bore live young. Their feet were paddles and they swam by undulating their bodies in the same manner as snakes and crocodilians. The present specimen is from a small animal which would have measured approximately 9 to 10 feet in length. The sclerotic rings (bones of the eye) are large and well formed in this specimen These bones would have helped keep the eyes’ shape when the Mosasaur dove to deeper depths; they are just below the skin in the eye and the iris would have filled the inside of the sclerotic ring. The joint on the lower jaw (used to open the jaw wide for eating) is very visible. A complete skull with some restoration. Measures 13in

