Rare 80-Million-Year-Old Fossils Unearthed in Northeast Texas

The remains were unearthed from the Ozan Formation in an 8-inch-thick fossil deposit located in the North Sulphur River near Ladonia, Texas. According to LiveScience, the teeth are only an inch long and notably blunt, designed for crushing tough shells of turtles and mollusks rather than tearing flesh, setting the species apart from other mosasaurs.

The Globidens species, first identified in 1912, is among the rarest mosasaurs in North America, with fossils typically comprising teeth and small jaw fragments.

The discovery was published in the Journal of Paleontological Sciences on Aug. 14. Texas was largely underwater during the mosasaur’s time, when they lived alongside dinosaurs, although mosasaurs are more closely related to snakes and lizards.

In 2022, a separate mosasaur discovery was made in the same region by amateur paleontologist Stephen Kruse, further cementing North Texas as a fossil-rich area.