An article published in the journal “Cretaceous Research” describes the discovery of a new species of mosasaur, a family of marine reptiles that lived in the Late Cretaceous. Called Kaikaifilu hervei, the animal found was probably long between 12 and 14 meters (39 to 46 feet). The fossils were found in 2010 by a Chilean expedition to Seymour Island in the Antarctic Peninsula in rocks dating back about 66 million years ago.

The mosasaurs (Mosasauridae) disappeared in the great extinction at the end of the Cretaceous along with dinosaurs. ITheirts closest living relatives could be snakes but also lizards and monitor lizards. Mosasaurs adapted to marine life and diversified into many species with sizes ranging from almost one meter (3 feet) to perhaps 17 meters (56 feet) of length. The first official discovery of a mosasaur fossil occurred in 1764, the first of many that over time enriched their family.

Despite the availability of fossils, not everything about mosasaurs is known. For example, a controversial issue about them is about whether they were cold or warm blooded. According to a research published in May 2016 they were warm-blooded but it might be contradicted so discussions among paleontologists are still open.

Of the specimen discovered in 2010 an incomplete skull and a humerus only were found so, as often happens in the field of paleontology, researchers are forced to infer and to estimate various characteristics of the specimen and its species. In the Antarctic it’s the first time that a big predator belonging to the family as the mosasaurs such as Kaikaifilu hervei is discovered. Instead the abundance of plesiosaurs, another group of marine reptiles of the time, was well known.

At the end of the Cretaceous, the climate in Antarctica was much warmer than today, so on the mainland and off its coasts there were many complex ecosystems. A big mosasaur such as Kaikaifilu hervei probably fed on other animals such as aristonectine plesiosaurs but the discovery of a predator like that is forcing paleontologists to reconsider their ideas on Antarctic ecosystems of the Late Cretaceous.

Although only a few bones of Kaikaifilu hervei were found, paleontologists who examined them found in them characteristics different enough from those of the mosasaurs known to be attributed to a new genus. It really is something new that shows the importance of this discovery. That’s why the scientists involved intend to carry out further research in Antarctica despite the difficult environment.