Pannoniasaurus
Pannoniasaurus is an extinct genus of tethysaurine mosasauroid known from the Late Cretaceous Csehbánya Formation and Ajka Coal Formation (Santonian stage) of Hungary. It contains a single species, Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus, dubbed "unexpected" because it was discovered in freshwater sediments, unlike other mosasaurs, which were marine predators. It was a medium-sized mosasaur, reaching up to in length.
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Article
6 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
- Paleobiology
- Limbs
- References
Pannoniasaurus is an extinct genus of tethysaurine mosasauroid known from the Late Cretaceous Csehbánya Formation and Ajka Coal Formation (Santonian stage) of Hungary. It contains a single species, Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus, dubbed "unexpected" because it was discovered in freshwater sediments, unlike other mosasaurs, which were marine predators. It was a medium-sized mosasaur, reaching up to in length.
==Discovery and naming== thumb|left|Skeletal diagram of Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus, restored with primitive Aigialosauridae|aigialosaur-style limbs The holotype (MTM 2011.43.1) and referred specimens have been collected from the alluvial sediments of the Csehbánya Formation from various exposures at the Iharkút open-pit bauxite mine, Bakony Hills, Western Hungary since the discovery of the locality in 2000. Pannoniasaurus inexpectatus was then named and described by Makádi, Caldwell & Ősi (2012).