Scientists identify colossal marine predator 'Tylosaurus rex' in Texas fossils

Eighty million years before human eyes would search the earth for meaning, a colossal predator ruled a warm inland sea that no longer exists. A fossil misidentified for decades in an American museum has now been recognized as an entirely new species — Tylosaurus rex — a 13-meter marine reptile whose bones carry the marks of extraordinary violence, even against its own kind. The discovery, emerging from Texas deposits and the patient scrutiny of a single paleontologist, invites us to reconsider not only what swam in ancient waters, but how deeply competition and dominance are woven into the fab