Mosasaur Tooth From Phosphate Deposits - Khouribga, Morocco (228.3 grams)

Mosasaurs are an extinct group of large marine reptiles. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764. Mosasaurs probably evolved from an extinct group of aquatic lizards known as aigialosaurs in the Early Cretaceous. During the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous period (Turonian-Maastrichtian ages), with the extinction of the ichthyosaurs and decline of plesiosaurs, mosasaurs became the dominant marine predators.

Mosasaur teeth come in various sizes and from various species.  This specimen is a large, finest grade fossil mosasaur tooth from a Mosasaurus beaugei.  This species is the largest identified mosasaur species from the Oulad Abdoun Basin of Morocco and the largest of six species known in the Maastrichtian phosphates of the Ganntour Basin (Morocco). The tooth is complete and intact, fully embedded within the matrix.

 LATE CRETACEOUS PERIOD:  73 - 65 million years ago

228.3 grams, 3 x 2 x 3 inches