.77" Fossil Mackerel Shark (Cretolamna) Tooth - Kansas

Fossil Mackerel Shark (Cretolamna) Tooth - Kansas #208263

This is a .77" fossil tooth of the extinct mackerel shark, Cretolamna sp., from the Smoky Hill Chalk in Gove County, Kansas. It is Cretaceous in age, or approximately 83 million years old. This tooth is still embedded in the natural rock in which it was found.

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.