Mosasaur and Mythological Creature: Globidens and Native American Horned Snake

 Welcome to my blog.  This is a free coloring pages blog.  Today the new drawings are of an unusual Mosasaur marine reptile and a legendary creature from Native American Mythology. 

Globidens catching an Ammonite

Globidens refers to a Genus of Mosasaurs or big marine reptiles from the Cretaceous Period.  Globindens species were first found in Alabama.  So the first Globidens' scientific name is Globidens alabamaensis.  There were also fossils of Globidens from South Dakota that lead to the naming of another species:  Globidens dakotensis.  There has also been found, in Egypt,  Globidens aegypticus.  

Globidnes is unique among Mosasaurs because it had rounded teeth for crushing shells of Ammonites and turtles.  It did not have the sharp teeth that other Mosasaurs had.  It had round teeth for holding onto shelled creatures and crushing their shells.  It is estimated that Globidens were 20 feet or 6 meters long.  Globidens lived in the Late Cretaceous Period. . . 90 - 66 million years ago. 

The name "Globidens" means "globe or spherical teeth"  The Globidens species used their globe-like teeth to crush shells and get at the soft meat on the inside.  Besides Ammonites, they probably also hunted sea turtles.  (There WERE sea turtles in the ocean during the Cretaceous Period.)

Ammonites are an extinct cephalopod that lived in ancient oceans.  They are the ancestors of the modern Nautilus.  They had air filled chambers and floated around in the ocean like a living submarine.  Several types of animals fed on Ammonites... such as Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and possibly even Plesiosaurs.  Ammonites were one of the longest-lived types of animals ever to live in the sea.  They first appeared 416 million years ago, (in the Paleozoic Era|), and went extinct with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.  There were Ammonites in the sea for much longer than there were dinosaurs on land. 

Can you identify which three are Ammonite fossils?

Hint:  ONE of these fossils is a vertebrae of an Ichthyosaur. 

Native American Horned Serpent

The  Horned Serpent is a legendary creature in Native American legends and mythology.  It is part of the mythology of many different Native American tribes in North America.  Some legends say it has large iridescent scales and an iridescent magical crystal in its forehead.  All the legends say it is huge and many place it living in the water of lakes and rivers.  

There is the thought that legend like this were fueled by Natives discovering fossilized skulls and bones of Mosasaurs... and other prehistoric animals like Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs. 

NOTE:  The top drawing of the Mosasaur, can be found, in printable form, by clicking on the button labeled:  "Paleontology."  The other drawing, of the Horned Serpent, can be found, in printable form, by clicking on the button labeled:  "Fantasy, Myths, and Circus."