'', showing the distinctive globular teeth. Overall, globidensins were medium-sized mosasaurs, with
Globidens itself reaching about 6 meters in length. The teeth of
Globidens,
Carinodens and
Igdamanosaurus differ from those of all other mosasaurs in being very robust and globular. Most mosasaur genera have sharp teeth adapted to grab soft and slippery prey like
fish and
cephalopods. Though some clearly were capable of crushing through the shells of armored prey, none were as specialized as
Globidens and its kin, which combined robust and powerful skulls with semispherical teeth capable of crushing through the shells of animals like
ammonites,
bivalves and small
turtles.
Russell (1967) did not offer a proper diagnosis for the tribe when he named it, due to how poorly known the
osteology of
Globidens was at the time, but nevertheless erected a new tribe due to the clearly distinct features separating
Globidens from the rest of the
Mosasaurinae and considered
Globidens to be a derived descendant of
Clidastes. A more recently suggested definition is a branch-based definition diagnosing the Globidensini as the most inclusive clade containing
Globidens dakotensis but not
Mosasaurus hoffmannii.
Jaw mechanics Both the genera
Globidens and
Prognathodon (sometimes classified as a globidensin, though most often not) have adaptations to a powerful jaw musculature. The ratio between the length of the supratemporal fenestra and the total length of the skull has previously been used as an improvised measurement for mosasaur bite force, and is quite high in these genera (0.27 in
Globidens dakotensis and 0.22 in
Prognathodon overtoni and
P. saturator) compared to other mosasaurs like
Mosasaurus hoffmannii (with a ratio of 0.19). == Species and taxonomy ==