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Alumni from the University of Alberta helped identify the smallest specimen of Tylosaurus in the world.
The Tylosaurus, found in Kansas, died about 85 million years ago, shortly after its birth. This made identification difficult because he had not yet developed the snout and teeth characteristic of an adult.
"After examining the specimen for the first time in 2004, it took me as close to 10 years to think outside the box and understand what it really was, a baby Tylosaurus who did not not yet developed such muzzle, "said Takuya Konishi, lead author. on the study.
A former graduate of the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta, who is now teaching at the University of Cincinnati, Konishi said the light was on when he was saw another specimen of monasaur.
"Some bones looked very similar in mosaic babies," he told CBC at a conference in New Mexico on Friday.
"It's kind of a story about the ugly duckling – it was not a graceful swan yet, it looks like a weird duck."
Tylosaurus was one of the largest monasaurs swimming in the oceans millions of years ago. Adult renderings show a creature that looks like a mix between a crocodile, a snake and a fish, or a terrifying big platypus.
"This is a lizard, so [like] The Kimodo dragons or the snakes that we have today, it's the same kind of scaly reptile, "said Konishi.It's actually an ocean lizard with big fins and a big shark like the caudal fin.
An adult Tylosaurus could reach a length of 13 meters and had powerful jaws and large teeth, a sea monster that would give the toughest sailor a bad case of thalassophobia (a fear of traveling at sea).
"It's even bigger than the killer whales today," Konishi said. "Killer whales are 10 meters at most."
Konishi is optimistic, the discovery will generate more interest for large animals living in the sea.
"I hope this means that more people will be interested in sea reptiles living alongside dinosaurs in the time of the dinosaurs, and will simply appreciate the richness of diversity."
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