0.9" Xiphactinus Audax Fossil Vertebrae Cretaceous Era Fish Niobrara FM Kansas

Location: Niobrara Formation, Gove County, Kansas

Weight: 0.3 Ounces 

Dimensions: 0.9 Inches Long, 0.8 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick

Late Cretaceous, 83 million years old

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

This is a real fossil

Xiphactinus Audax was among the largest bony fish of the Late Cretaceous and ranked as one of the ocean’s most formidable predators. Its strong tail and wing-shaped pectoral fins propelled the 17-foot (5-meter) long creature through near-surface waters. Prey, such as fish and seabirds, were trapped in its upturned jaw, lined with large, fang-like teeth, giving it a distinctive bulldog-like appearance.

The Xiphactinus, measuring up to 13 feet (4 meters) in length, could gape wide enough to engulf fish as large as six feet (two meters) whole. Despite its formidable size, it was sometimes hunted by the shark Cretoxyrhina. This formidable predator roamed the Western Interior Seaway, an ancient ocean spanning much of central North America during the Cretaceous period. Though extinct, this bony fish would resemble a massive, fanged tarpon if it existed today.