Tylosaurinae
The Tylosaurinae are a subfamily of mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the subfamily are informally and collectively known as "tylosaurines" and have been recovered from every continent except for South America. The subfamily includes the genera Tylosaurus, Taniwhasaurus, and Kaikaifilu, although some scientists argue that only Tylosaurus and Taniwhasaurus should be included.
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Description
- Species and taxonomy
- References
- Further reading
The Tylosaurinae are a subfamily of mosasaurs, a diverse group of Late Cretaceous marine squamates. Members of the subfamily are informally and collectively known as "tylosaurines" and have been recovered from every continent except for South America. The subfamily includes the genera Tylosaurus, Taniwhasaurus, and Kaikaifilu, although some scientists argue that only Tylosaurus and Taniwhasaurus should be included.
Tylosaurines first appeared in the Coniacian and gave rise to some of the largest mosasaurs within the genera Tylosaurus and Hainosaurus which came to dominate as apex predators in marine ecosystems throughout the Santonian and Campanian, but appear to have been largely replaced by large mosasaurines, such as Mosasaurus, by the end of the Maastrichtian. Nevertheless, the subfamily survived to the end of the Cretaceous, covering a period lasting approximately twenty million years.