Name:
Hainosaurus
(Haino lizard).
Phonetic: High-noe-sore-us.
Named By: Louis Dollo - 1885.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata,
Mosasauridae, Tylosaurinae.
Species: H. bernardi (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated about 12 meters
long.
Known locations: Europe.
Time period: Campanian to Maastrichtian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Many specimens but of partial
remains.
Hainosaurus
is usually considered to be one of the largest known mosasaurs;
however its actual size is a subject of on-going study. Early length
estimates placed Hainosaurus at seventeen meters,
while later study
towards the end of the twentieth century revised this down to
fifteen. A Hainosaurus specimen from Sweden that
was described by
Johan Lindgran has seen the total length of Hainosaurus
fall to just
over 12 meters. As is always the case an exceptionally well
preserved specimen of a fully grown adult would be required to settle
the size of Hainosaurus without question.
Even
at a more modest twelve meters, Hainosaurus was
still one of the
bigger predators in the late Cretaceous seas, with only very rare
larger predators like Mosasaurus
being able to challenge its
dominance. Hainosaurus was probably a generalist
predator of other
large marine organisms such as turtles, smaller mosasaurs, later
plesiosaurs, as well as possibly large fish and sharks. While still
growing up however it may have included other types of smaller animals
such as ammonites and even birds, as indicated by fossil evidence for
other mosasaurs.
As
a tylosaurine mosasaur Hainosaurus is thought to
have been most closely
related to other mosasaurs such as Tylosaurus
and Taniwhasaurus.
Further reading
- The first record of Hainosaurus (Reptilia: Mosasauridae) from Sweden.
- Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 79, No. 6, pp. 1157–1165. - Johan
Lindgren - 2005.
- Phylogenetic and Palaeobiogeographical Analysis of Tylosaurinae
(Squamata: Mosasauroidea). - University of Alberta, Ph.D dissertation.
- Paulina Jimenez-huidobro - 2016.
- Reassessment and reassignment of the early Maastrichtian mosasaur
Hainosaurus bernardi Dollo, 1885, to Tylosaurus Marsh, 1872. - Journal
of Vertebrate Paleontology - Paulina Jimenez-huidobro & Michael
W. Caldwell - 2016.