Moanasaurus


Moanasaurus was a genus of mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossil remains have been discovered in the North Island of New Zealand. Moanasaurus was a very large mosasaurine known originally from holotype CD43, a disarticulated skull, vertebrae, ribs and flipper bones. The skull measures in length, which shows that Moanasaurus was one of the largest in the subfamily of Mosasaurinae. Researchers argue that some Antarctic Mosasaurus remains may be attributed to this genus.
Two additional species have been named, "Moanasaurus hobetsuensis" and "Moanasaurus longirostris", but these are nomina nuda because they were named in a PhD thesis. The same thesis argued that Mosasaurus flemingi is a junior synonym of Moanasaurus mangahouangae.