Scientists Identify 12 Tylosaurus rex Fossils, a 43-Foot Sea Predator Hidden in Museums
Updated
Updated · DOGOnews · Jun 8
Scientists Identify 12 Tylosaurus rex Fossils, a 43-Foot Sea Predator Hidden in Museums
2 articles · Updated · DOGOnews · Jun 8
Summary
Twelve fossils long mislabeled as Tylosaurus proriger have been reclassified as Tylosaurus rex, a newly identified marine reptile that reached 43 feet and lived about 80 million years ago.
Sharp, serrated teeth, a skull more than 5.5 feet long, and a larger body set the animal apart from T. proriger, which was smaller, had smoother cone-shaped teeth, and dates to about 84 million years ago.
Texas specimens proved central to the split: researchers traced the case from unusual features spotted in 2012 to a review of dozens of fossils, finding the new species was concentrated in Texas while true T. proriger was mainly from Kansas.
One key specimen is the 1979 'Black Knight' skeleton near Dallas, now at the Perot Museum, whose healed broken jaw suggests the predator survived major injuries and kept hunting.
The findings, published May 21 in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, could reshape scientists' picture of how giant mosasaurs evolved in North American seas.