Clidastes Mosasaur Skull

This fossil is a well-preserved skull of a Clidastes propython. Clidastes was the one of the smallest of the marine reptile mosasaurs, averaging 2-4 meters in length, with the largest specimens reaching 6.2 meters long. They lived during the Late Cretaceous period, roughly 86-72 million years ago (mya) with this skull dating to 83 mya. The bony sclerotic ring in the eye socket helped the eye to maintain its shape under great pressure when hunting deep underwater. Due to post-mortem distortion, this skull shows one row of pterygoid teeth under the jaw line below the eye. This was an extra set of teeth attached to the palate, aiding in trapping prey. A bone called the quadrate, located to the right of the eye above the jaw, served as a double-action hinge allowing for extreme jaw extension as well as enabling the lower jaw to move forward and back in a sawing motion to rip apart large prey. These specialized features helped place mosasaurs at the top of the food chain worldwide in the Cretaceous seas.