🎨 RestorationRestoration: Andrey Atuchin in Zietlow et al. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Life restorations are artistic reconstructions based on fossil evidence; true coloration and soft-tissue details remain uncertain.
Tylosaurus
Tylosaurus proriger (Tylosaurus · Tylosaurus)
Known only from fossils. The IUCN Red List assesses only species extant since 1500 CE, so fossil taxa are not assigned a category.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 The skull length of the largest specimen, about 1.7 m, is similar to the height of an adult human (Comparison).
- 💡 Remembering that the central plains of North America—now dry land—were once covered by the Western Interior Seaway explains why marine fossils are found inland there.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Tylosaurus proriger (genus Tylosaurus) was a very large mosasaur that lived in the seas of Europe and North America during the Late Cretaceous.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is characterized by a long, toothless rostrum projecting beyond the front teeth on both the upper and lower jaws. The largest individual of this species, the 'Bunker' specimen, is estimated to have had a skull length of about 1.7 m.
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
It lived in the Western Interior Seaway of North America from the late Santonian to the middle Campanian (about 84–80 million years ago). Because many fossils ranging from juveniles to large adults have been found, it is well suited for studies of growth.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • Fossil taxon — the IUCN Red List assesses only species living or extinct since 1500
- • paleobiodb.org — basicTaxonInfo
- • wikidata.org — Q22113990
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Tylosaurus proriger AMNH.jpg
- • pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — PMC7583613
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Scott Hartman · CC BY 3.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Tylosaurus)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.