There's a New T. Rex From the Dinosaur Age — and It Ruled the Seas with a Skull-Crushing Bite
Researchers remeasured 300 mosasaur specimens and found Tylosaurus rex, a giant 43-foot predator with serrated teeth and powerful jaws.
- On Thursday, researchers from the American Museum, Perot Museum, and Southern Methodist University announced the identification of Tylosaurus rex, a massive marine reptile that dominated ancient seas nearly 80 million years ago.
- Amelia Zietlow, a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History, initiated the study after noticing misidentified fossils, leading her team to remeasure 300 specimens while validating a theory originally proposed by John Thurmond in the 1960s regarding Texas-based tylosaurs.
- Measuring up to 43 feet long, the predator featured finely serrated teeth and robust neck muscles; fossils like The Black Knight display evidence of violent combat injuries inflicted by members of its own species.
- Famous specimens including Bunker at the Kansas National History Museum and Sophie at the Yale Peabody Museum are now reclassified as Tylosaurus rex, updating museum collections across multiple institutions.
- Zietlow argued the findings necessitate a broader reassessment of mosasaur evolution, stating "this discovery is not just about naming a new species" but modernizing the tools used to study these iconic marine reptiles.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Science Daily
ecotopical.comScientists discover giant sea predator Tylosaurus rex that terrorized ancient oceans
A colossal new sea predator named Tylosaurus rex has been identified from fossils found in Texas, revealing a brutal 43-foot-long hunter that ruled ancient oceans 80 million years ago. The discovery not only introduces one of the biggest mosasaurs ever known, but also shakes up long-standing ideas about how these marine reptiles evolved.
There's a new T. rex from the dinosaur age — and it ruled the seas...
The newly described mosasaur Tylosaurus rex spanned up to 43 feet (13 meters) long and may have been one of the fiercest marine predators of the dinosaur age. There's a new T. rex in town, but this one didn't hunt on land. It ruled the ancient seas. Scientists have described a new species of mosasaur, a member of a marine reptile group that lived at the same time as dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago). Th…
Paleontologists Discover an Ancient Marine Reptile They've Dubbed the T. Rex of the Sea, Crowning Another King of the Cretaceous
Scientists figured out that the predators were lumped in with a previously named mosasaur species. The new one, called Tylosaurus rex, could grow to 43 feet long, about the length of a school bus
Hanford Sentinel
union-bulletin.com'T. rex of the sea': Texas researchers identify new ancient marine species
As the saying goes, everything's bigger in Texas — it just so happens that applies to ancient marine lizards, too. On Thursday, researchers at the American Museum of Natural History, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and Southern Methodist…
Ancient seas get a new T. rex as massive mosasaur emerges from Texas fossils
There's a new T. rex in the fossil record, only this one terrorized the ancient seas. New research led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, and Southern Methodist University uncovers a new, massive species of mosasaur, a marine reptile that lived during the age of the dinosaurs. One of the largest mosasaurs known to date—stretching up to 43 feet long—this top predator was desc…
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