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Catalogue entry
The Specimen
🦴 MOSASAUR JAW SECTION WITH 14 TEETH
A 32 cm section of original fossil mosasaur jaw with 14 teeth, from the Late Cretaceous phosphate deposits of Morocco. Mosasaurs were large marine reptiles that ruled the seas at the end of the age of dinosaurs.
🔎 Fossil Information
- Fossil type: Mosasaur jaw section with teeth
- Identification: Mosasaur (family Mosasauridae)
- Teeth: 14
- Length: approximately 32 cm / 12.6 inches (measured from the scale photograph)
- Condition: Original fossil, repairs present
- Period: Late Cretaceous
- Age: Approximately 66–72 million years (Maastrichtian)
- Locality: Phosphate deposits, Morocco
- Availability: One exact photographed specimen
- PaleoDeserts reference: JAW-19
🌊 About Mosasaurs
Mosasaurs (family Mosasauridae) were marine reptiles of the Late Cretaceous, related to modern monitor lizards and snakes, not dinosaurs. They had long, powerful jaws lined with conical teeth, and their remains are among the best-known fossils from the phosphate deposits of Morocco.
📷 Exact Specimen
Only one specimen is available. You will receive the exact jaw section shown in the photographs. The first photograph is a studio presentation of this same specimen; the following photographs are unedited views. This is an original fossil, with repairs made during preparation.
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Where it comes from
Moroccan Origin
Morocco’s phosphate basins, above all the Oulad Abdoun Basin near Khouribga and the Ganntour Basin near Benguerir, preserve one of the richest marine vertebrate fossil records on Earth.
At the end of the Cretaceous, a shallow sea covered this part of Morocco. Its nutrient-rich waters supported mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, sharks and bony fish, whose bones and teeth were preserved in the accumulating phosphate sediments.
Reported locality for this specimen: Phosphate deposits, Morocco.
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From the rock
Discovery
Moroccan phosphates are worked in successive layers. As the rock is exposed, fossil bones and teeth appear within the phosphate beds and are recovered before the material is processed.
Large skulls, jaws and skeletons are rare finds within this enormous volume of rock, and must be lifted carefully, often together with their surrounding matrix.
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Deep time
Geological Context
The Maastrichtian phosphate beds formed in the final stage of the Cretaceous, shortly before the extinction event about 66 million years ago. Younger phosphate layers continue into the Paleocene and Eocene.
- Period
- Late Cretaceous
- Locality
- Phosphate deposits, Morocco
- Deposit
- Moroccan phosphates
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The workshop
Preparation
Fossils are freed from their surrounding rock with fine air-powered tools, abrasives, brushes and consolidants. Depending on size and fragility, preparation can take from a few hours to several months.
The preparation, association, repair and restoration information supplied for this specimen is listed below, exactly as recorded in its catalogue entry.
- Teeth
- 14
- Condition
- Original fossil, repairs present
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On display
Presentation
Presented as a natural-history specimen, this fossil is suited to a private collection, a gallery, a library or a carefully designed interior.
This listing describes one individual specimen. You will receive the exact fossil shown in the photographs.
For display, choose a stable surface away from strong direct sunlight and humidity. Our care guide explains how to clean, handle and present a fossil.
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For the collector
Collector Information
The Oulad Abdoun BasinMosasaur vs DinosaurFAQAll Fossil Guides
Continue the exhibition
