Tylosaurus was a ferocious marine lizard that powered itself through the water with sweeping motions of its long body and fish-like tail. At a massive 46 ft long, it was about the size of a humpback whale and one of the largest mosasaurs. It lived in the Western Interior Seaway of North America during the Late Cretaceous, from about 75 to 85 million years ago.
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History:
The first Tylosaurus remains were discovered in the 1860s after the American Civil War. The first specimen was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1869 as ‘Macrosaurus’ proriger. Hot on his heels in 1870, Cope’s arch-rival, Othniel Charles Marsh, began the first fossil hunting expeditions of Yale College. These uncovered more fossils of this ancient marine reptile. In 1872 Marsh created the name Tylosaurus, which means ‘knob (or snout) lizard’, in reference to the elongated bony muzzle that projects beyond the last teeth in the upper jaws.
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Scientific Name: Tylosaurus proriger
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Characteristics: The predatory Tylosaurus had a long, streamlined body and a large skull with pointed jaws filled with sharp, conical teeth. The bases of the teeth in large individuals could be the size of a clenched human fist. It had extra rows of teeth on the roof of its mouth to hold struggling prey, which can be seen if you look in the throat out of our Tylosaurus toy. Its limbs were broad, flattened flippers and its long tail probably ended with an expanded lobe to provide extra thrust.
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Size: This Tylosaurus toy model is 9.25 inches long and 1.5 inches high.
- The Tylosaurus is part of the Wild Safari® Prehistoric World collection
- All of our products are Non-toxic and BPA free
