''Komensaurus'' is a genus of basal
aigialosaurid mosasauroid from the
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...
period. It was found at
Komen
Komen (, or ''Comeno'') is a settlement in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Komen. It is located on the Karst Plateau in the Slovenian Littoral.
Name
Komen was attested in written sources in 1247 as ''Cominum'' (and as ''Cumin'' ...
in
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
in
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
dating from the
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...
. It was earlier referred to as the "
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
aigialosaur
Aigialosauridae (from Greek, ''aigialos'', meaning "seashore", and ''sauros'', "lizard") is a family of Late Cretaceous semiaquatic pythonomorph lizards closely related to the mosasaurs. Regarded by some paleontologists as a distinct monophyleti ...
". In 2007, the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
''Komensaurus carrolli'' was named. Its
holotype
A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...
, specimen MCSNT 11430, was discovered in
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
and lived alongside the related ''
Carsosaurus
''Carsosaurus'' is a genus of extinct amphibious reptiles, in the mosasaur superfamily, containing only the species ''Carsosaurus marchesetti''. It is known from a single individual from the Komen Limestone of Slovenia. The specimen is well-pre ...
''.
[M.W. Caldwell and A. Palci. 2007. "A new basal mosasauroid from the Cenomanian (U. Cretaceous) of Slovenia with a review of mosasauroid phylogeny and evolution". ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27(4): 863-880]
See also
*
List of mosasaurs
External links
Oceans of Kansas
Notes
Mosasaurids
Mosasaurs of Europe
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