Halisaurus is an extinct genus of mosasaur named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1869. The holotype, consisting of an angular and a basicranium fragment discovered near Hornerstown, New Jersey, already revealed a relatively unique combination of features and prompted a new genus to be described. Its name is a portmanteau of the Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls; "sea") and σαῦρος (saûros; "lizard").[1] It was renamed by Marsh to Baptosaurus in 1870, since he believed the name to already be preoccupied by the fish Halosaurus. According to modern rules, a difference of a letter is enough and the substitute name is unneeded, making "Baptosaurus" a junior synonym.
Since its description, more complete remains have been uncovered from fossil deposits throughout the world with particularly complete remains found in Morocco and the United States. The genus remains a key taxon in mosasaur systematics due to its unique set of features and as the most complete representative of its subfamily, the Halisaurinae.
With a length of 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft), Halisaurus was comparatively small by mosasaur standards. Though bigger than earlier and more basal mosasaurs, such as Dallasaurus, the sleek Halisaurus would have been dwarfed by many of its contemporaries, such as Tylosaurus and larger species of Clidastes.
^Marsh, O.C. (1869). "Notice on some new mosasauroid reptiles from the Greensand of New Jersey". American Journal of Science. s2-48 (144): 392–397. doi:10.2475/ajs.s2-48.144.392.
the sleek Halisaurus would have been dwarfed by many of its contemporaries, such as Tylosaurus and larger species of Clidastes. Halisaurus appeared relatively...
the genus Clidastes by Wiman and then to Halisaurus by Russell. Hence, Clidastes sternbergii became Halisaurus sternbergii. Although some agreed with this...
analysis excluded the dubious Halisaurus onchognathus and the genus Pluridens. In their 2023 description of the new Halisaurus species, H. hebae, Shaker et...
the species Halisaurus sternbergii was reassigned to its own genus, Eonatator, along with the description of the new species Halisaurus arambourgi by...
exclusive mosasaurid clade including Mosasaurus and Tylosaurus but not Halisaurus. S. De Grave & C. H. J. M. Fransen (2011). "Carideorum Catalogus: the...
Tylosaurus, and certain species of Halisaurus and Prognathodon. In addition, they exclusively feature M. conodon, Halisaurus platyspondylus and Prognathodon...
the unique features of Pluridens to be shared with Halisaurus and reassigned P. walkeri as "Halisaurus walkeri". The genus synonymy was rejected by later...
M. K.; Tantawy, A. A.; Abu El-Kheir, G. A. (2023). "A new species of Halisaurus (Mosasauridae: Halisaurinae) from the lower Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous)...
Bardet and Superbiola restudied the Halisaurus remains first discovered in Kansas in 1918 and classified as Halisaurus by Russell in 1970. They found it...
Seaway below swam mosasaurs such as Clidastes, Ectenosaurus, Eonatator, Halisaurus, Platecarpus and Tylosaurus, several remains of the plesiosaurs Dolichorhynchops...
largest mosasaurs, though its size has been revised more than once. †Halisaurus †Halisaurus platyspondylus USA With a length of 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft), this species...
Plioplatecarpus, the globidensine genus Igdamanosaurus, the halisaurine genus Halisaurus, the mosasaurine genus Mosasaurus, and the mosasaurid genus Goronyosaurus...
been unearthed from this fossil formation. They include Prognathodon, Halisaurus, Plesiotylosaurus, and Plotosaurus. Plesiosaurs that inhabited the Moreno...
Iarochene M, Bouyahyaoui F, Bouya B, Amaghzaz M (2002). "A new species of Halisaurus from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, and the phylogenetical...
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