What is this interesting creature found in Kastamonu in 1999?

Gelologist from Hacettepe University prof. Dr. Cemal Tunoglu, He discovered a fossil during his field studies in Kastamonu in 1999, and together with his French colleague Nathalie Bardet, who worked on this subject, they described it and presented the remains of the species “mosasaurus hoffmannii mantell, 1829” to the scientific world.

This fossil, previously described in various parts of the world, Seen for the first time in Turkey was quite important. Because, despite the abundance of marine macro and micro paleontological findings in the Late Cretaceous units of Turkey, no vertebrate finding representing the dinosaurs period could be found until that day.

Mosasaurus hoffmannii is not a dinosaur but is their cousin and vertebrate marine reptiles known as dinosaurs of the seas.

This fossil found in Turkey, it contains only a small part of the lower jaw. It has several teeth on it. You can easily choose how big the teeth are. It is currently on display at the Hacettepe University Geological Engineering Department Exhibition.

Beyler Dam

It is located in the north of Devrekani district of Kastamonu. Near Beyler Dam The right and left jaws of this fossil, and the left jugal fragment connecting the jaws with a series of disintegrating teeth, are the most important materials of this invention.

Mosasours, which became extinct 75-65 million years ago, roamed in shallow marine environments and fed on smaller creatures.

Reconstructed skeleton of Mosasaurus hoffmannii on display at the Natural History Museum of Maastricht, Netherlands.

By this time, 40-50 species of mosasour have been identified worldwide. For the first time in the 1770-1780’s Dr. Discovered by CK Hoffman.

These giant creatures swam like snakes and fish and provided their vertical movement like whales. These air-breathing They were reptiles and periodically reached the surface and provided these needs.

Mosasaurus hoffmannii was one of the largest creatures in the seas and oceans of all time, as well as of the Cretaceous period.

Mosasaurus hoffmannii, the largest of which was found in our country, is 17.5 meters long, while the smallest is 3-3.5 meters. It was about the same size as tyrannosaurus rex. It weighed 14 tons, which is the average of 3-4 elephants.

Mosasours carnivores are living things; they usually fed on fish, ammonites (extinct marine mollusks) and crabs. The area where the Mosasour remains are found is indeed a very rich area in terms of ammonite and crab fossils.

This creature from the movie Jurassic World is also a type of mosasour, but its size is overrated.

Yet today’s sharks and whales They were creatures that could easily kill.

We should also remind you that there was no such place as Anatolia in the period when the Mosasour lived.

In different geological periods location of continents it was like this.

Would you like this creature to live today? Maybe a real Our “Van Lake Monster” it would be!

Resources:
Cemal Tunoğlu & Nathalie Bardet Research Paper
Hacettepe University Faculty of Engineering Department of Geology Lecturer Prof. Dr. Cemal Tunoglu
Hacettepe University | Department of General Geology | Official Account

Image resources: Deviant Art

Special thanks:
Mersin University Faculty of Engineering Department of Geology Lecturer Prof. Dr. Believe in the light