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Approved version OWNER-REVIEW-20261028T180251014 · last approved 28 October 2026
The Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) Adaffa Formation of north-western Saudi Arabia contains mosasaurs of more than one lineage, including Prognathodon and plioplatecarpines.
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The Adaffa mosasaurs lived alongside bothremydid turtles, dyrosaurid crocodyliforms and elasmosaurid plesiosaurs; this assemblage resembles the animals of the same period in the Middle East and North Africa, on the southern margin of the Tethys Sea.
Animals belonging to Mosasauroidea (the group that includes mosasaurs) were apex predators in Late Cretaceous marine ecosystems, and occasionally in freshwater ecosystems as well.
The marine reptiles of the Adaffa Formation, including mosasaurs, resemble contemporary faunas of the Middle East and North Africa and are typical of the southern margin of the ancient Tethys Sea.
