Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Santonian 86.3–83.6 Ma
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Selmasaurus johnsoni mounted skull in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado.
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
Squamata
Clade:
†Mosasauria
Family:
†Mosasauridae
Clade:
†Russellosaurina
Clade:
†Selmasaurini
Genus:
†Selmasaurus Wright & Shannon, 1988
Species
†S. russelli Wright & Shannon, 1988 (type)
†S. johnsoni Polcyn & Everhart, 2008
Selmasaurus is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Plioplatecarpinae subfamily alongside genera like Angolasaurus and Platecarpus. Two species are known, S. russelli and S. johnsoni; both are exclusively known from Santonian deposits in the United States.
Selmasaurus is unique among the mosasaurs in that its skull is unusually akinetic, meaning that it is incapable of widening to swallow larger prey. Most mosasaurs have skulls which possess "coupled kinesis" (mesokinesis and streptostyly), that is, parts of the jaw can open widely to accommodate large prey.
clade—also containing Gavialimimus, Goronyosaurus, and Selmasaurus—the Selmasaurini. Selmasaurus johnsoni, which is older and may be more primitive, was...
twelve in Selmasaurus johnsoni. Like Goronyosaurus, Khinjaria had twelve teeth in its dentary. These teeth are proportionately large, like Selmasaurus johnsoni...
Gavialimimus G. almaghribensis Goronyosaurus G. nigeriensis Khinjaria K. acuta Selmasaurus S. russelli S. johnsoni Plioplatecarpini Latoplatecarpus L. nichollsae...
Goronyosarus to the Plioplatecarpinae in a clade containing Angolasaurus and Selmasaurus. A plioplatecarpine assignment was also supported by Zietlow, Boyd &...
They named this clade—also containing Gavialimimus, Goronyosaurus and Selmasaurus—the Selmasaurini. A similar clade was recovered by Strong et al. (2020)...
J., 2008, Description and phylogenetic analysis of a new species of Selmasaurus (Mosasauridae: Plioplatecarpinae) from the Niobrara Chalk of western...
have placed it between the (then) plioplatecarpines Ectenosaurus and Selmasaurus, maintaining a basal position within the plioplatecarpinae. Its wide...
species of mosasaur to have been named for Russell, the first being Selmasaurus russelli (Wright and Shannon, 1988). The type specimen of Russellosaurus...
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