Overview
- The Rutgers-led study modeled a sudden movement the authors call a “slam-start,” in which an animal curls its tail and sweeps it back to push off the water for a single powerful surge.
- The research found Platecarpus and Tylosaurus had longer, more flexible tail sections that produced faster single-stroke lunges than Mosasaurus and Plotosaurus, suggesting ambush hunting for the former and sustained pursuit for the latter.
- The team reports that a large Tylosaurus could reach about 15 miles per hour in a single modeled tail stroke, but the speed is a brief burst under specific assumptions rather than a sustained swimming speed.
- The researchers reconstructed four near-complete mosasaur skeletons, filled missing soft tissues using living lizard anatomy (including Komodo dragons), and tested ranges of muscle power, tail flexibility, and water resistance.
- The study, published Wednesday, Oct. 7 in Current Biology, releases its data and modeling tools for reuse and offers a new method to link fossil shape to hunting role and ancient marine ecosystems.