Early restorations showing Tylosaurus with a dorsal crest were based on misidentified tracheal cartilage, but when the error was discovered, depicting mosasaurs with such crests was already a trend. It is extremely likely that it gave birth to live young ones. The suffix '-saurus' is derived from the Greek word 'sauros' which translates to lizard in English.
Fights amongst Tylosaurus individuals were also common, but scientists have found no evidence of cannibalism.
To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. Tylosaurus was not only an enormous apex predator, growing up to 45 feet in length, but also a specialist.
NextThey are as follows: Tylosaurus proriger Cope, 1869 , from the Santonian and lower to middle Campanian of North America Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, etc.
Well known dinosaurs such as the , and the were defined by O. He grouped it with his 1868 find.
NextThe largest mosasaur was the.
The bases of the teeth in large individuals could be the size of a clenched human fist. The largest specimen was more than 50 feet in length and weighed about 25,000 kilos.
NextRelated species The Tylosaurus was related to the Tethysaurus and the Ectennosaurus.
The specialised and occasionally damaged snout of Tylosaurus has been suggested to being a weapon used by Tylosaurus against others of its kind during territorial combat. Smaller prey items like flightless birds such as Hesperornis and sea turtles probably did not require such special hunting strategies and may be cases of opportunistic feeding.
NextTylosaurus kansasensis, named by Everhart in 2005 from the late Coniacian of Kansas, has been shown to be based on juvenile specimens of T.
This tail was expected to be very thick. This flourishing family of sea lizards was cut down by an extinction event that would eliminate the vast majority of large life on Earth, including dinosaurs. In case you're wondering how Tylosaurus wound up in landlocked Kansas, of all places, that's because much of the western U.
NextIt is currently on display at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural history.