The mosasaurid (Squamata) Prognathodon in the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of the Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy, northwestern France)

Abstract

AbstractAlthough the presence of mosasaurids in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Baculites limestone of the Cotentin peninsula, in the western part of Normandy (France), was reported as early as 1873 by Henri-Emile Sauvage, this occurrence has largely been overlooked by subsequent authors. In this paper we review Sauvage’s original material (an isolated tooth – the type of Mosasaurus platyodon) and describe an additional, hitherto unpublished, tooth crown also from the Baculites Limestone of the Cotentin and refer both to the globidensine mosasaur Prognathodon. Mosasaurus platyodonSauvage, 1873 is considered a nomen dubium.