Clidastes

Clidastes

▪ fossil reptile
      extinct ancient marine lizards (lizard) belonging to a family of reptiles (reptile) called mosasaurs (mosasaur). Clidastes fossils are found in marine rocks from the Late Cretaceous Period (99 million to 65 million years ago) in North America. Excellent specimens have been found in the chalk deposits of Kansas.

      Clidastes was 4 metres (13 feet) or longer; the head alone was about 60 cm (24 inches) long and was equipped with many sharply pointed curved teeth. The neck was short, but the body and tail were long and relatively slender. This aquatic lizard probably swam by undulating its body in the same way that terrestrial lizards do. The limbs terminated in broad appendages that provided directional control as it moved through the water. Clidastes was clearly an efficiently swimming predator and probably fed mostly on fish as well as on ammonoids (ammonoid) (a cephalopod similar to the present-day nautilus). Clidastes and other mosasaurs may have gone ashore to reproduce.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Clidastes — prophyton in einer Lebendrekonstruktion Zeitraum Cenomanium bis Coniacium 99,6 bis 85,8 Mio. Jahre Fundorte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Clidastes — Temporal range: Late Cretaceous Clidastes liodontus and a toxocheylid turtle Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Clidastes — Cli*das tes, n. [NL., prob. from Gr. klei s key.] (Paleon.) A genus of extinct marine reptiles, allied to the Mosasaurus. See Illust. in Appendix. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Clidastes —   Clidastes Rango temporal: Cretácico superior …   Wikipedia Español

  • Clidastes — Le clidastes est un reptile marin désormais éteint de la famille des mosasauridae. Il pouvait atteindre 4 m de long avec une tête pouvant aller jusqu au 60 cm. Cet animal se nourrissait principalement d ammonites ou de poissons. Portail de la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • clidastes — cli·das·tes …   English syllables

  • clidastes — klīˈda(ˌ) stēz noun Usage: capitalized Etymology: New Latin, probably irregular from Greek kleid , kleis key; akin to Latin claudere to shut more at close : a genus of large extinct No. American Cretaceous fish eating marine lizards in many… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Mosasaur — Mosasaurs Temporal range: Late Cretaceous …   Wikipedia

  • Mosasauridae —  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Mesosauridae. Mosasauridae …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mosasauridae —   Mosasauridae Rango temporal: Cretácico superior …   Wikipedia Español

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