Goronyosaurus
Goronyosaurus is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. Fossils of Goronyosaurus are exclusively known from the Late Maastrichtian of the Iullemmeden Basin in West Africa, specifically the Dukamaje Formation of Niger and Nigeria and Farin Doutchi Formation of Niger. The type specimen was first described in 1930 as Mosasaurus nigeriensis, but subsequent remains revealed a highly unique set of adaptations that prompted the species to be reclassified as the only species of the new genus Goronyosaurus in 1972. These unique adaptations have made Goronyosaurus notoriously difficult to classify within the Mosasauridae and it is often left out of phylogenetic analyses, although most authors agree that Goronyosaurus belonged to Mosasauridae.
| Goronyosaurus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Diagram of Goronyosaurus, reconstructed as a mosasaurine, based on known fossils. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Clade: | †Mosasauria |
| Superfamily: | †Mosasauroidea |
| Family: | †Mosasauridae |
| Genus: | †Goronyosaurus Azzaroli et al., 1972 |
| Species: | †G. nigeriensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Goronyosaurus nigeriensis (Swinton et al., 1930) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Goronyosaurus possesses unique teeth, which are unlike the teeth of any other mosasaur. Instead of the cutting teeth common among mosasaurs, Goronyosaurus has straight teeth with rounded apices adapted for smashing food.