Alderon Games, Path of Titans / AMNH
Reconstruction of Tylosaurus rex in the Western Interior Channel of North America during the Cretaceous period
A fossil discovered in 1979 was initially misclassified. Almost five decades later, a new study revealed that it is a species that was previously unknown.
The discovery is not the result of a recent excavation, but of the reevaluation of materials that have remained in scientific collections for decades. The real “monster” of the Cretaceous is this new aquatic “T. rex”, which could reach 13 meters long and crush skulls with a single bite.
According to the newspaper, the specimen identified as Tylosaurus proriger did not fully correspond to the characteristics of this species. After comparing it with a reference specimen preserved in the Museum of Comparative Zoologythe team concluded that it was, after all, a different species.
The new animal was named Tylosaurus rexin a reference to the abbreviation of Tyrannosaurus rex. However, this predator did not dominate the dry land, but the waters of the ancient Western Interior Seawaya vast inland sea that, millions of years ago, stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic.
According to the researchers, the fossils analyzed are approximately 80 million years and have been found from north Texas. The animal was approximately 13 meters long, about four meters more than many specimens previously attributed to the Tylosaurus proriger.
The anatomical comparison also revealed important differences. O Tylosaurus rex It had finely serrated teeth, a feature absent in the Tylosaurus prorigerand showed signs of particularly powerful mandibular and cervical muscles.
The image drawn by the study is that of a marine super predatoradapted to capturing large prey, capable of exerting devastating pressure with its jaw. Some fossils show serious injuries, including the specimen nicknamed “Black Knight”, who lost the tip of his snout and has a fracture in his lower jaw.
The authors suggest that these wounds may have resulted from fighting between individuals of the same species.
Finally, the case further reinforces the importance ofever old scientific classifications and of modernize the tools used in the study of mosasaurs, the giant marine reptiles that dominated the oceans at the end of the Cretaceous.
