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Catalogue entry
The Specimen
🦷 ORIGINAL 6.0 CM MOSASAURUS HOFFMANNI TOOTH
An original fossil tooth of the mosasaur Mosasaurus hoffmanni, measuring 6.0 cm (approximately 2.4 inches) in length. It comes from the Late Cretaceous phosphate deposits of the Sidi Chennane Basin, Morocco, and is approximately 66 million years old. This is a single, unique specimen, catalogued by PaleoDeserts under reference M-48.
🔎 Fossil Information
- Fossil type: Fossil tooth (marine reptile)
- Identification: Mosasaurus hoffmanni
- Length: 6.0 cm / approximately 2.4 inches
- Period: Late Cretaceous
- Age: Approximately 66 million years
- Locality: Sidi Chennane Basin (phosphate deposits), Morocco
- Availability: One exact photographed specimen
- PaleoDeserts reference: M-48
🌊 About Mosasaurus hoffmanni
Mosasaurus hoffmanni is the type species of Mosasaurus and one of the largest known mosasaurs. Mosasaurs were marine reptiles, not dinosaurs, related to modern monitor lizards and snakes, and they were among the top predators of the Late Cretaceous oceans until the end of the Cretaceous about 66 million years ago.
📷 Exact Specimen
Only one specimen is available. You will receive the exact tooth shown in the photographs.
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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: Sidi Chennane Basin (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
- Sidi Chennane Basin (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.
No specific preparation details have been recorded for this specimen. Please request information if this is important to your collection.
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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
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