Hainosaurus bernardi

The Hainosaurus bernardi is one of the largest mosasaurs known to date. Its name means 'lizard from (the valley) of the Haine'. The Haine river also gives its name to the Hainaut province where the mosasaur was discovered, in the Ciply chalk quarries, 130 years ago.

The specimen on display is 68 to 70 million years old (Maastrichtian to Upper Cretaceous periods). This authentic fossil is near complete apart from a missing section of the spinal column – replaced by fabricated bones in the exhibit – which was probably destroyed as the chalk in which the animal was resting dissolved away.

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