KansasFossilHunter Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 In July of 2012 I was fortunate enough to find the dentary of a baby Xiphactinus fish. A few months later I was able to recover the second jaw and preoperculum of the same fish. I believed that this would be a once in a lifetime discovery. I was wrong. 2012 LINK: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/34665-winner-of-the-2012-vertebrate-fossil-of-the-year/ In June of this year I saw a jaw from another baby Xiphactinus several miles from the original. The new baby is almost the exact same scale as the first but is actually the maxilla and pre maxilla, two bones not recovered with the first. Here are some picture of this mind-blowing fossil. As found: 2
KansasFossilHunter Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 In comparison to 2012 specimen: -KansasFossilHunter 2
JohnJ Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Well done, Kris. Congrats. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ
Ludwigia Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Amazing! But can you be absolutely certain that they all belong to the same individual? Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/
Fossildude19 Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Wow, Kris! You have either the best luck,or the best instincts I have ever seen. Fantastic find. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me
KansasFossilHunter Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 Amazing! But can you be absolutely certain that they all belong to the same individual? All of the bones from the 2012 specimen belong to the same individual as they were found on the same horizon less than 10cm apart. The more recent one is certainly a different individual.
KansasFossilHunter Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 Wow, Kris! You have either the best luck,or the best instincts I have ever seen. Fantastic find. Regards, Thanks Tim!
DinoMike Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Wow, I'd lose my mind if I made a find like that! (OK, so losing my mind is kind of a given for me... details... )
Plantguy Posted June 20, 2015 Posted June 20, 2015 Hey Kris, those all are mighty neat. That large tail specimen over in your blog aint too shabby either!! nice! congrats. Regards, Chris
KansasFossilHunter Posted June 20, 2015 Author Posted June 20, 2015 Hey Kris, those all are mighty neat. That large tail specimen over in your blog aint too shabby either!! nice! congrats. Regards, Chris Hey, thanks! If any of y'all want to follow me on twitter its all fossils all the time. I always post something neat on #FossilFriday.
sseth Posted June 23, 2015 Posted June 23, 2015 Incredible fossils. Thanks for sharing them with us. _____________________________________ Seth www.fossilshack.com www.americanfossil.com www.fishdig.com
-Andy- Posted June 29, 2015 Posted June 29, 2015 Man you're one skilled fossil hunter Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!
KansasFossilHunter Posted May 2, 2019 Author Posted May 2, 2019 But wait, there's more! How about the return-return of the baby Xiphactinus? Here's a new little Xiphactinus fossil I found last summer while I was collecting fossils for the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. It's a little bigger than the first two I found and is more similar in size to the one Mike Everhart has in Oceans of Kansas. This one has both the left maxilla and dentary, as well as the preopercular and other opercular elements. Also seems to have parts of the frontal, premaxillae and seems overall to be a surprisingly complete skull! The fossil is currently under preparation at the new museum in Ann Arbor and was donated along with 30 other newly collected chalk fossils. This specimen will be another important one for research on the ontogenetic changes that occur throughout the lifecycle of this monstrous fish. Now that we have more and more specimens to look at! 5
KansasFossilHunter Posted May 2, 2019 Author Posted May 2, 2019 Here's an up close view shortly after collecting the fossil 2
KansasFossilHunter Posted May 2, 2019 Author Posted May 2, 2019 Here's the more recent view after I had a chance to work on the fossil for a bit. Slow and careful work under a microscope! 3
-Andy- Posted May 2, 2019 Posted May 2, 2019 You are doing a great job Kris Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!
The Amateur Paleontologist Posted May 21, 2019 Posted May 21, 2019 Wonderful specimens Kris! Looking forward to the seeing the result of the prepping -Christian Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy! Q. Where do dinosaurs study? A. At Khaan Academy!... My ResearchGate profile
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now