Name:
Eonatator (Greek for "dawn swimmer"); pronounced EE-oh-nah-tay-tore
Habitat:
Oceans of North America
Historical Period:
Middle-Late Cretaceous (90-75 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 10 feet long and a few hundred pounds
Diet:
Probably fish
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Small size; slender body
About Eonatator:
As is the case with many mosasaurs--the marine reptiles that succeeded plesiosaurs and pliosaurs as the scourges of the world's oceans during the late Cretaceous period--the exact taxonomy of Eonatator is still being puzzled out by experts. Once thought to be a species of Clidastes, and then of Halisaurus, Eonatator is now believed to have been one of the earliest mosasaurs, and suitably small (10 feet long and a few hundred pounds, max) for the progenitor of such a fearful race.
