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

Location: Niobrara Formation, Gove County, Kansas

Weight: 0.3 Ounces 

Dimensions: 1.4 Inches Long, 0.8 Inches Wide, 0.5 Inches Thick

Late Cretaceous, 83 million years old

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

This is a real fossil

Xiphactinus Audax ranked among the largest bony fish of the Late Cretaceous and stood out as one of the ocean’s most formidable predators. Propelled by a robust tail and wing-shaped pectoral fins, this 17-foot-long (5-meter) leviathan swiftly traversed the ocean’s surface. Its upturned jaw, armed with formidable fang-like teeth, captured both unwary fish and seabirds, bestowing upon it a distinctive, bulldog-like visage.

The Xiphactinus, measuring up to 13 feet (4 meters) long, had a jaw capable of swallowing fish as large as six feet (two meters) in one gulp. Despite its size, it was sometimes hunted by the shark Cretoxyrhina. This species lived in the Western Interior Seaway, an ancient ocean that once covered much of central North America during the Cretaceous period. Though extinct today, the Xiphactinus would resemble a large, fanged tarpon if it were still alive.