Kourisodon
Name:
Kourisodon (razor tooth).
Phonetic: Kor-e-so-don.
Named By: E. L. Nicholls & D.
Meckert - 2002.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata,
Mosasauridae.
Species: K. puntledgensis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Roughy about 3.7 to 3.8 meters long..
Known locations: Canada, British Columbia -
Pender Formation. Japan, Kagawa Prefecture - Hiketa
Formation, Osaka - Mutsuo Formation.
Time period: Santonian to Maastrichtian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of several
individuals.
Kourisodon
was first described from fossil remains discovered in British
Columbia, though since this time more partial remains from Japan have
been attributed to the genus. Not only does this significantly expand
upon the known geographical range of Kourisodon,
but it indicates
that Kourisodon existed from the Santonian of the
Canadian deposits,
all the way to the Campanian and Maastrichtian of the Japanese
deposits.
Kourisodon
is noted as being similar to the genus Clidastes,
and like this
mosasaur,
Kourisodon was likely a fast and agile swimmer that
enabled
it to chase down fast moving prey such as fish.
Further reading
- [Crocodilian-like teeth (? Mosasauridae) from the Izumi Group
(Upper Cretaceous, Maastrichtian) of Sobura, Kaizuka-city,
Osaka Prefecture, southwest Japan]. Chigakukenkyu
47(2):91-95. - M. Tanimoto, M. Tani & M.
Minamino - 1998.
- Marine reptiles from the Nanaimo Group (Upper Cretaceous) of
Vancouver Island. - Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
39(11):1591-1603. - E. L. Nicholls & D.
Meckert - 2002.
- Mosasaur remains from the Upper Cretaceous Izumi Group of southwest
Japan. - Netherlands Journal of Geosciences - Geologie en
Mijnbouw 84(3):373-378. - M. Tanimoto - 2005.
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