Fossil claimed to be new species of mosasaur is suspected forgery
A jawbone found in a Moroccan mine was thought to be a novel species of marine reptile from the Cretaceous period, but other researchers believe it is probably a fake
By Taylor Mitchell Brown
16 January 2025
Artist’s impression of Carinodens, a mosasaur whose remains scientists suspect might have been manipulated and then labelled as a new species
Henry Sharpe
Remnants of a bizarre “shark-toothed” aquatic predator that lived alongside dinosaurs were probably forged, according to new research.
The contentious fossil of a jaw fragment was apparently collected by miners working at the Sidi Chennane phosphate mines in Morocco, in rock that is 66 to 72 million years old. Nick Longrich at the University of Bath, UK, and his colleagues analysed the find and classified it as a new species of mosasaur named Xenodens calminechari in 2021.
Read more
Largest ever animal may have been Triassic ichthyosaur super-predator
Advertisement
The fossil possesses highly unusual blade-like teeth similar to those of sharks, which Longrich and his colleagues suggested would help carve up large prey.
Morocco is uniquely rich in mosasaur fossils, says Henry Sharpe at the University of Alberta in Canada. “Miners working in the phosphate mines come across mosasaurs all the time.”
The problem is many people in Morocco make a living selling fossils, says Sharpe. “So many of the mosasaur fossils being sold from Morocco are modified [there] – teeth are added, bones are sculpted, all to make the fossil worth more to sell.”
