Cranial palaeopathologies in a Late Cretaceous mosasaur from the Netherlands

Here we describe multiple pathological skeletal elements in a specimen assigned to a globidensine mosasaur as Prognathodon cf. sectorius. This individual, NHMM 2012 072, was recovered from the upper Lixhe 3 Member (Gulpen Formation, upper Maastrichtian) near Maastricht, the Netherlands. In all likelihood, it was bitten in the snout by a large, possibly conspecific mosasaur – and survived this attack. The specimen described here is among the very few with clear and unambiguous evidence of (very likely intraspecific) agonistic interactions amongst mosasaurs. Despite significant injuries, includi... Mehr ...