Xenodens

Xenodens (from Greek and Latin for "strange tooth") is a potentially dubious extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family.

It contains a single species, X. calminechari (From Arabic کالمنشار, meaning "like a saw"), which is known from Late Maastrichtian phosphate deposits in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco.

[2] The genus and type species were named for the purported short and flattened blade-like teeth that collectively form a set of saw-like jaws in this taxon.

In their 2021 description of this taxon, Longrich et al. hypothesized that these similarities were indicative of a broad diet of cephalopods, crustaceans, fish, and scavenged marine reptiles in Xenodens.

The unusual morphology of the preserved teeth may result from intraspecific variation, as tooth shape can vary through ontogeny, so the possibility that the taxon represents an immature Carinodens cannot be precluded.

Skull reconstruction and a speculative life reconstruction based on initial interpretations of the fossil material