2.2" Ichthyodectes Caudal Vertebra (Tail Section) - Kansas

Ichthyodectes Caudal Vertebra (Tail Section) - Kansas #136459

This is a 2.2" long string of caudal (tail) vertebrae from Ichthyodectes ctenodon(meaning fish biter with comb teeth), closely related to Xiphactinus audax and the 2-meter long Gillicus arcuatus. Large Ichthyodectes growing to more than 10 feet long lived in the U.S. Western Interior Seaway during the late Cretaceous Period. These vertebrae were collected from the Smoky Hill Chalk in Gove County, Kansas.

Ichthyodectes anaides, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

The Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk formation is a Cretaceous conservation Lagerstätte, or fossil-rich geological formation, known primarily for its exceptionally well-preserved marine reptiles. It outcrops in parts of northwest Kansas--its most famous localities for fossils--and in southeastern Nebraska. Large, well-known fossils excavated from the Smoky Hill Chalk include marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, large bony fish such as Xiphactinus, mosasaurs, pterosaurs, and turtles.