The History Of Moroccan Mosasaurs Species

History of Moroccan Phosphate

The history of Moroccan Mosasaurs Species dates back to 1921 when the mining operations commenced. These mines extract three layers of phosphates, categorized as follows:

Level 1: Ypresian phosphate bed
Level 2: Thanetian phosphate bed
Level 3: Maestrichian phosphate bed
Level 4: Maestrichian grey phosphate at Sidi-Chenan quarry, Ben Guerir, and Youssoufia
Level 5: Maestrichian, grey phosphate, white bones at Ben Guerir and Youssoufia
Level 6: Maestrichian, grey phosphate, white bones at Ben Guerir and Youssoufia

While these materials are commonly referred to as originating from Khouribga, most of them actually come from the Oued Zem and Sidi-Daoui zone.

One significant aspect is the presence of mosasaurs, which belong to level 3. Scientists from the French Museum of Natural History in Paris have studied four different species of mosasaurs. As per my personal opinion, there may be at least 18, and possibly 20, different species. Here is a list of some of them:

Halisaurus arambourgi (Bardet, Pereda Suberbiola, Iarochène, Bouya & Amaghzaz, 2005)
Halisaurus sp. (not yet described)
Halisaurus walkeri (Lingham-Solier, 1998) (temporary name until further study is conducted)
Prognathodon sp. Dollo, 1889
Thalassotitan atrox 2022 (formerly Prognathodon anceps, formerly Leiodon anceps)
Prognathodon solvayi Dollo, 1889
Prognathodon hudae kaddumi 2009
Prognathodon currii (Christiansen & Bonde, 2002)
Eremiasaurus heterodontus, gen. et sp. nov. (AR. H. LeBlanc, M. W. Caldwell, and N. Bardet, 2012)
"Mosasaurus" baugei Arambourg 1954 (Mosasaurus beaugei Arambourg, 1952) from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco (Nathalie Bardet, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Mohamed Iarochene, Fatima Bouyahyaoui, Baadi Bouya, Mbarek Amaghzaz, 2004)
Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829
Hainosaurus boubker, 2022
Slender form with a long premaxillary, similar to Tylosaurus proriger
Massive form with a short premaxillary, similar to Hainosaurus
Stelladens mysteriosus (Nicholas R. Longrich, Nour-Eddine Jalil, Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola, and Nathalie Bardet, 2023)
Gavialimimus almaghribensis caldwell et al, 2020 (formerly Platecarpus ptychodon Arambourg 1954)
Globidens phosphaticus (Bardet, Pereda Suberbiola, Iarochène, Amalik & Bouya, 2005)
Carinodens belgicus (N. Bardet, X. Pereda Suberbiola, M. Iarochène, M. Amalik, and B. Bouya, 2005)
Carinodens minalmamar (A.S. Schulp, N. Bardet & B. Bouya, 2009)
Harranasaurus khuludae (Kaddumi, 2009)
Globidens simplex (LeBlanc, Aaron, 2019)
Xenodens calminechari (Longrich, N.R.; Bardet, N.; Schulp, A. S.; Jalil, N., 2021)