Huge Dinosaur Age Jaw Mosasaur Fossil Tooth Mosasaur

Massive three foot dinosaur age jaw mosasaur fossil tooth mosasaurus. Rare superb mosasaurus double jaws with 16 teeth in hardened sandstone matrix a+++ no reserve.

Mosasaurs were the domniant predator in the oceans of the late cretaceous and were certainly the marine equivalent of tyrannosaurus rex. The finding of the first mosasaur remains in the netherlands about 1780 (mosasaurus hoffmanni) predates the discovery of dinosaurs by more than fifty years, yet they have been frequently ignored in the media and text books on paleontology in favor of the more popular ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. The mosasaurus anceps adn mosasaurus beaugie were one of the success stories of the late cretaceous period. The largest known mosasaur is hainosaurus, which could reach 17 meters in length.

Giant mosasaurs were the top predator in the sea and were widespread across the world. Much of their day would have been spent swimming slowly near the seabed looking for suitable prey to attack. Their diet consisted of slow moving animals like ammonites, birds and turtles but they would also tackle larger and swifter prey, such as sharks and plesiosaurs, when the opportunity arose. As the mosasaurs were not fast swimmers, they would have stalked their prey using natural cover provided by seaweed adn rocks. Only when the prey was withni striking range would the mosasaur propel itself forward.

Mosasaur marine fossil's teeth and double jaw bone fragments are imbedded in a light brown matrix of hardened phosphoric sandstone from the sahara desert in the oulad abdoun basin near the khouribga phosphate plateau region of morocco, north africa. The massive marine predator went extinct at the end of the cretaceous about 65 million yeras ago along with the dinosaurs. This set of upper and lower fossilized maxilla (upper) and mandible (lower) sets of jaw bones measures 32 1/2 and 33 with the massive 16 teeth measuring 2 to 2 1/2 lengths. The reconstituted harden sand matrix is backed with a plaster cast to stabilize the mass.

They lived during the same period t. Rex roamed the earth. Mosasaurs can easily be considered the t. Rex of the prehistoric seas!

Such creatures were true hunter-killers thta had no rival during their existence. Mosasaurs were the largest lizards that ever evolved and attained lengths of lamost 60 feet with a skull 6 foot long!

The mosasaur was a powerful swimmer who spent its entire life in the sea. Mosasaurs had long and powerful bodies whose tails and limbs were adapted for swimming. They probably swam by moving their long body in a snake-like way, also using their finned tail to propel them forwards. They steered with small, webbed feet.

Mosasaurs had long heads, strong and flexible necks and hydrofoil-like limbs. Their large jaws had stabbing teeth and had a hinge in the mid-lower jaw similar ot modern day constrictor snakes. The specimen listed are real fossil jaws and teeth that are created when the preparatory moroccan craftsman removes actual insitu (as found) fossil jaw bone sections and real teeth from blocks of brittle, crumbly sandstone matrix and then composites (reassembles them from parts) back onto a block of original crushed matrix, which is then stabilized with a thin glue solution making the whole display very stable. These are not found in the ground as you are seeing them, they are composites that have been prepared and assembled for display. Whole natural jaw sections such as this would cost you thousands of dollars more and be encased in plaster since the matrix is so brittle.

As with the vast majority of moroccan trilobites and other fossils, some restoration and / or repair is evident in the fossil specimen, even with close-up pictures, it is difficult to tell which part of the fossil may have been restored, i ma not an expert in estimating the percent of restoration, so you be the judge of the overall percentage of original fossil and matrix. All the fossils on display have been recently purchased from moroccan wholesale dealers at the world-class tucson gem and fossil show held in february of 2008. All pictures are of the actual specimen ebing auctioned.

Thanks for a bid, george. Shipping weight of 65 pounds double boxed, peanuts, bubble wrap, foam via either usps priority or parcel post insured mail service from 85740. Will ship worldwide. Local bidders are encouraged to drop by my house to save on postage, just email your intentions. No reserve.