Natantia is an obsolete taxon of decapod crustaceans, comprising those families that move predominantly by swimming – the shrimp, prawns (Dendrobranchiata) and boxer shrimp. The remaining Decapoda were placed in the Reptantia, and consisted of crabs, lobsters and other large animals that move chiefly by walking along the bottom. The division between Natantia and Reptantia was replaced in 1963, when Martin Burkenroad erected the suborder Pleocyemata for those animals that brood their eggs on the pleopods, leaving Dendrobranchiata for the prawns. Under this system, Natantia is a paraphyletic group. Burkenroad's primary division of Decapoda into Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata has since been corroborated by molecular analyses.
Mosasaurs comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles containing 40 genera in total. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764. They belong to the order Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes.
Pythonomorpha was originally proposed by paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope (1869) as a reptilian order comprising mosasaurs, which he believed to be close relatives of Ophidia (snakes). The etymology of the term Pythonomorpha comes from the Greek Python and morphe ("form"), and refers to the generally serpentine body plan of members of the group. Cope wrote, "In the mosasauroids, we almost realize the fictions of snake-like dragons and sea-serpents, in which men have been ever prone to indulge. On account of the ophidian part of their affinities, I have called this order Pythonomorpha." Cope incorporated two families, the Clidastidae and the Mosasauridae.
Eonatator is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is a close relative of Halisaurus, and part of the same subfamily, the Halisaurinae. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of North America, Colombia and Sweden. Originally, this taxon was included within Halisaurus, but was placed in its own genus, which also led to the subfamily Halisaurinae being created for the two genera.
Prognathodon is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside genera like Mosasaurus and Clidastes. Prognathodon has been recovered from deposits ranging in age from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian in the Middle East, Europe, New Zealand, and North America.
Aigialosauridae is a family of Late Cretaceous semiaquatic varanoid lizards closely related to the mosasaurs. Regarded by some paleontologists as a distinct monophyletic group and by others as an adaptive grade within the basal mosasauroids, recent molecular and morphological data suggests that they are the oldest known members of the lineage leading to the mosasaurs.
Dallasaurus is a basal mosasauroid from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. Along with Russellosaurus, Dallasaurus is one of the two oldest mosasauroid taxa currently known from North America. This small semi-aquatic lizard measured less than a meter in length, compared to such gigantic derived mosasaurs as Tylosaurus and Mosasaurus, each exceeding 14 meters.
Judeasaurus is an extinct genus of small, aquatic varanoid lizard related to the mosasauroids. The only known specimen is from the Late Cretaceous of the Middle East, though its exact provenance is uncertain.
Liodon is a dubious genus of mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous. Remains assigned to this genus have been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and New Zealand. Though dubious and of uncertain phylogenetic affinities, Liodon was historically a highly important taxon in mosasaur systematics, being one of the genera on which the family Mosasauridae was based.
Yaguarasaurus is an extinct genus of mosasauroid from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) period of Colombia, South America. The remains discovered were defined as a new genus and species of mosasaurid, Yaguarasaurus columbianus, by the Colombian paleontologist María Páramo, former director of the Museo de Geología José Royo y Gómez of INGEOMINAS in Bogotá. The first fossils remains of this animal suggested a cranial length of 47 centimetres (19 in) and a total length of 5 metres (16 ft); an additional skull that measures 87 centimetres (34 in) long implies a larger size.
Aigialosaurus is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous marine or semiaquatic lizard classified as part of the family Aigialosauridae within the Mosasauroidea. Exclusively found in deposits of Cenomanian age near Hvar, Croatia, the genus contains one valid species, A. dalmaticus. According to recent molecular and morphological data, Aigialosaurus is the oldest known member of the lineage leading to large Cretaceous marine reptiles called mosasaurs, a group most closely related to snakes among living squamates.
Acteosaurus is an extinct genus of aquatic lizard that lived in the upper Cretaceous period. Its species, A. tommasinii and A. crassicostatus, were described in 1860 and 1993. Though A. crassicostatus is probably a junior synonym for Adriosaurus suessi, A. tommasinii was found to be similar to coniasaurs, mosasauroids, and a sister taxon to modern snakes in 2010.
The Mosasaurini are a tribe of mosasaurine mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the tribe, known as "mosasaurins", have been recovered from North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania, with questionable occurrences in Asia. The tribe contains the closely related genera Mosasaurus, Eremiasaurus, Plotosaurus and Moanasaurus. It has historically been more inclusive, on occasion including genera such as Plesiotylosaurus, Liodon and Clidastes, all of which are now seen as more basal mosasaurines.
The Tethysaurinae are a subfamily of mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the subfamily are informally and collectively known as "tethysaurines" and have been recovered from North America and Africa. Only two tethysaurine genera are known, Pannoniasaurus and Tethysaurus. The genera Yaguarasaurus and Russellosaurus were previously considered tethysaurines until they were grouped with Romeosaurus in the new subfamily Yaguarasaurinae. A possible member of this clade (subfamily) is a mosasaur specimen known from a maxilla fragment, found in 1960 in the Czech Republic, in Dolní Újezd near Litomyšl.
This timeline of mosasaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, and taxonomic revisions of mosasaurs, a group of giant marine lizards that lived during the Late Cretaceous Epoch. Although mosasaurs went extinct millions of years before humans evolved, humans have coexisted with mosasaur fossils for millennia. Before the development of paleontology as a formal science, these remains would have been interpreted through a mythological lens. Myths about warfare between serpentine water monsters and aerial thunderbirds told by the Native Americans of the modern western United States may have been influenced by observations of mosasaur fossils and their co-occurrence with creatures like Pteranodon and Hesperornis.
The Globidensini are a tribe of mosasaurine mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the tribe, known as "globidensins" or "globidensine mosasaurs", have been recovered from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The tribe contains the genera Globidens, Carinodens and Igdamanosaurus.
Burianosaurus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now the Czech Republic, being the first validly named dinosaur from that country. The type species, B. augustai, was named in 2017; the genus name honours the Czech palaeoartist Zdeněk Burian, and the species name honours the Czech palaeontologist Josef Augusta. The holotype specimen is a femur discovered in sediments belonging to the Peruc-Korycany Formation in 2003, which was described as possibly belonging to an iguanodont in 2005.
Dolichosauridae is a family of Late Cretaceous aquatic varanoid lizards closely related to the mosasaurs. The family contains seven genera.
Portunatasaurus is a genus of mosasauroid squamate that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Croatia. It contains a single species, P. krambergeri, recovered from the Adriatic-Dinaric Carbonate Platform.
