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Showing results for tags 'kansas'.
Found 158 results
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Hey everyone I just got news of a recently described set of juvenile Tylosaurus cranial remains! This cranial material is from the Santonian Smoky Hill Chalk Member (part of the Niobrara Fm.) of western Kansas. What's really exciting is that this specimen (FHSM VP-14845) originated from a neonate (newborn) individual, which can reveal numerous details about mosasaur growth and ontogeny. I've attached the paper below: Konishi, T., P. Jimenez-Huidobro, and M. W. Caldwell. 2018. The smallest-known neonate individual of Tylosaurus (Mosasauridae, Tylosaurinae) sheds new light on the tylosaurine rostrum and heterochrony. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1510835. Abstract: We here report on the smallest-known, neonate-sized Tylosaurus specimen, FHSM VP-14845, recovered from the lower Santonian portion of the Niobrara Chalk exposed in Kansas, U.S.A. Lacking any associated adult-sized material, FHSM VP-14845 comprises fragmentary and associated cranial bones, here considered to represent a single neo- natal individual with an estimated skull length of 30 cm. Despite its small size, a suite of cranial characters diagnoses FHSM VP-14845 as a species of Tylosaurus, including the elongate basisphenoid morphology. At the same time, FHSM VP-14845 unexpectedly lacks a conical predental rostrum on the premaxilla, generally regarded as diagnostic of this genus. Further, the first and the second premaxillary teeth are closely spaced, with the second set positioned posterolateral to the first, contributing to the overall shortness of the dentigerous premaxilla. Because a conical predental rostrum is already present in ontogenetically young specimens of T. nepaeolicus and T. proriger with respective skull lengths of approxi- mately 40 and 60 cm, formation of such a rostrum must have taken place very early in postnatal ontogeny. Our recognition of a neonate-sized Tylosaurus specimen without an elongate predental rostrum of the premaxilla suggests hypermorphosis as a likely heterochronic process behind the evolution of this iconic tylosaurine feature. Partial pterygoids of the newborn Tylosaurus. Taken from fig. 4 of Konishi et al. (2018) Here's the paper - hope you'll enjoy it! Juvenile tylosaur skull.pdf -Christian
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- niobrara formation
- kansas
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These are the most numerous former inhabitants(that can be seen with naked eye) in an area I'm studying. Cottonwood Fm, lower Permian, Flint Hills Kansas. There's an odd feature at the anterior end that may help ID it. Would these indicate shallow water environment?
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Hey guys... First post here. I live around the Victoria area here in Ellis County. I've always been interested in our local history, but my interests have recently shifted to a little 'older' part of our history around here, more specifically when we were covered by warm-water oceans. I've spent a good portion of this summer walking creeks searching for SOMETHING, ANYTHING, and have came up empty handed. It's my understanding that the Sharks teeth and vertebrae will mostly be located in a specific sediment layer, and apparently I'm missing that. Can anybody help me out with identifying good places to search for these 'common' fossils that seem to be eluding me? Any help is greatly appreciated!!
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What would the indicators be for a shallow or shoreline environment.
Innocentx posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I've been exploring a lower Permian site I think may have intermittently been a shallow marine environment. The location is Eastern Flint Hills, Kansas. What type and size of creatures would indicate a shallow or shoreline environment? Thanks ahead of time for any information. -
https://www.fhsu.edu/news/2018/08/fossil-data,-images-from-sternberg-museum-now-available-online This is pretty cool. Sternberg museum is putting everything on-line. The search function is awesome. They still have a lot of stuff to get scanned, but everything is at least listed now. This can be a great tool.
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I would like to better understand conchoidal fracturing of chert/flint. I have many pieces where the fracturing is obviously conchoidal, but some others where this isn't obvious. I'll post photos in hopes that knowledgeable folks can point out circular characteristics that I'm not seeing. In this first one I can see small conchoidal divots. It's the larger seemingly straight(long lines) fractures where I don't see conchoidal characteristics.
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Hoping to ID the central object in this photo. It appears to be broken towards the narrower end. It has grooves running the length of it. It's approximately 1 mm or less in length. Lower Permian, Cottonwood member, Council grove group, Kansas.
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Just got a new paper from ResearchGate It basically describes the dentition morphology of Megacephalosaurus eulerti, a pliosaur from the Turonian Carlile Shale of Kansas. The paper also looks at general aspects of M. eulerti cranial anatomy. The study is based on a beautiful skull housed at the Fort Hays Museum of Natural History (see below). Madzia, D., Sachs, S., & Lindgren, J. (2018). Morphological and phylogenetic aspects of the dentition of Megacephalosaurus eulerti, a pliosaurid from the Turonian of Kansas, USA, with remarks on the cranial anatomy of the taxon. Geological Magazine, 1-16. Abstract of the paper: Megacephalosaurus eulerti is a large macropredatory plesiosaur representing one of the last members of the diverse pliosaurid clade Brachaucheninae. The taxon was established upon a nearly complete skull including the mandible and fragments of the postcranial skeleton originating from the lower middle Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) of Kansas, USA. Owing to its age, reasonable completeness and its state of preservation, M. eulerti bears important anatomical details regarding the last brachauchenines. Here we assess the dentition of the taxon, compare the teeth to those of other thalassophonean pliosaurids and comment on the utility of these results for inferences of the phylogenetic relationships of the last brachauchenines. Additionally, we provide remarks on the cranial anatomy of M. eulerti, revise character scores of this taxon used in current phylogenetic studies and address the phylogenetic relationships within Brachaucheninae. Parsimony analyses, aimed to test different char- acter sampling and tree-search strategy, inferred only a single unambiguous synapomorphy uniting a clade formed by mid- to Late Cretaceous brachauchenines: presence of subcircular rather than subtrihedral/trihedral cross-sectional shape of the teeth. Still, the last brachauchenines (Brachauchenius and Megacephalosaurus) can be roughly characterized by a switch from anisodont to subisodont dentition and reduction of their tooth count. Nevertheless, the overall knowledge of the origin, phylogenetic relationships and distinguishability of brachauchenine pliosaurids remains poor and represents a subject for further extensive studies and modifications in taxon and character sampling. For those who want it, I can send it by email to them
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- phylogenetics
- dentition morphology
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These were all found in northwest Oklahoma, near the Kansas state line.
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Found in Ellis county Kansas. Saw a small section sticking out and when I started to wash it I saw there was quite a few packed into the rock. I was able to get most of the rock off (I’m thinking limestone maybe?). Are these all little pieces of petrified wood? They are grey in color, the largest piece being about half an inch across. The black rock is intriguing as well. There are small black specs all over and then the larger one, seen in the first picture. There are also also a few shells smashed into it, but they are pretty difficult to see. I have a few pictures showing the entire thing and some close ups.
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The attached paper describes the partial and complete skulls of the mosasaur Tylosaurus proriger from the Niobrara Formation of Kansas https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.php/VAMP/article/view/29339
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- tylosaurus proriger
- kansas
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Things that make you go, huh?? Lol this appears to have some bone fragments, but can't say for sure. Anybody ever see anything like this??
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Found this little guy about 2-2.5 inches in Northwest Kansas. I was thinking it was some kind of shell maybe on another shell, or perhaps a layred rock. When I found it, all that could be seen was a tip of the darker brown shell, the rest was completely covered in, I believe, limestone. Anyone know what I’m looking at exactly here? I have another piece much larger that looks very similar, but I am still working on cleaning and preparing it. Once it is finished I will also post pictures of that one. I can add more pictures as well.
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Heres another one I was going to put in my sidewalk, but wanted to make sure that I didnt have something. South central kansas
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I found this in Kansas. I picked it up because it was a cool rock. I'm just learning in here, but trying. I was going to use it in a rock sidewalk, but thought I would just make sure it wasn't a tooth or something first
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I was hoping someone could tell me what the stick looking thing is. Its apx an inch and a quarter. It appears to have a smaller one to the left.
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I live in Kansas and thought I had a lot of fossils. Well, I guess not. Is there a type of rock that houses more fossils than others? What signs (crystalization? ) a color? Etc should I look for?? Are fossils typically a certain color? Does anyone have fossils still in the matrix that they could post here to help me know what I'm looking for? Please. Thanks!!
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Quartz? Tia.
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I found this one in Kansas. I have no clue if it's just a odd rock formation or what. Thought I would share
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Believe this one was found in Kansas. Is this bone or fossil??
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Any idea what this is??
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Heres another fossil I found. Any ideas?
