Sharks eating mosasaurs, dead or alive?
Rothschild, B.M.; Martin, L.D.; Schulp, A.S. (2005). Sharks eating mosasaurs, dead or alive? Geol. Mijnb. 84(3): 335-340
In: Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. Kluwer/Cambridge University Press: Den Haag, Cambridge. ISSN 0016-7746; e-ISSN 1573-9708, more
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Keywords |
Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Mesozoic > Cretaceous > Cretaceous, Upper > Maastrichtian Chondrichthyes [WoRMS]; Mosasauridae; Platecarpus; Prognathodon; Squamata [WoRMS]; Tylosaurus [WoRMS] Belgium, Limburg [Marine Regions]; Netherlands, Limburg (Province) Marine/Coastal |
Author keywords |
mosasaurs; Platecarpus; Prognathodon; Tylosaurus; sharks; scavenging; predation |
Authors | | Top |
- Rothschild, B.M.
- Martin, L.D.
- Schulp, A.S.
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Abstract |
Shark bite marks on mosasaur bones abound in the fossil record. Here we review examples from Kansas (USA) and the Maastrichtian type area (SE Netherlands, NE Belgium), and discuss whether they represent scavenging and/or predation. Some bite marks are most likely the result of scavenging. On the other hand, evidence of heating and the presence of a shark tooth in an infected abscess confirm that sharks also actively hunted living mosasaurs. |
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