LOT 0399

Enormous Fossil Mosasaur 'Marine Dinosaur' Skull

CRETACEOUS PERIOD, 67-65 MILLION YEARS B.P.

55 x 39 1/4 in. (164 kg, 140 x 100 cm).

An exceptionally large and spectacular fossil Mosasaurus anceps partial skull on matrix showing both sides of both upper and lower jaws, with dentition; the main skull compressed during fossilisation and thus fragmented but well preserved; the matrix set into a plaster surround.

From the phosphate beds, Oved Zem, Morocco.
From an East Anglian, UK, collection.
Property of a Hounslow, S.W. London, gentleman collector.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12901-240277.

The Mosasaur is an extinct, large marine reptile dinosaur with a snake-like body, long snout and paddle-like limbs. found worldwide, they competed with other well-known sea predators of the Late Cretaceous, such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, for food, existing primarily on a diet of ammonoids, cuttlefish and fish.