Tylosaurus sp.

Tylosaurus was a marine lizard of the mosasaurid family, a group of large, cosmopolitan, marine carnivores, closely related to modern monitor lizards, that lived in the Upper Cretaceous period. As predators located at the top of the food chain, they thrived in the shallow waters of the immense interior sea that divided North America in two during the Middle and Upper Cretaceous.

The largest Tylosaurus specimens reached a length of 14 meters. Their two pairs of powerful flippers and their long, muscular tail made them agile and fast swimmers. They were characterised by jaws lined with large pointed conical teeth. Another characteristic was their cylindrical muzzle, the front of which was toothless.

In some Tylosaurus specimens, the remains of their last meal are visible in the abdominal cavity. Their food regiment can thus be reconstructed and shows an extremely varied diet, consisting of fish, sharks, other mosasaurs, plesiosaurs and even seabirds. Certain also preserve traces of skin, showing that this was made up of very small, diamond-shaped scales.

Acquired by Albert Gaudry from M. Ward of Manchester.