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

Location: Niobrara Formation, Gove County, Kansas

Weight: 0.4 Ounces 

Dimensions: 1.5 Inches Long, 1.1 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 was one of the largest bony fish of the Late Cretaceous and is regarded as one of the era’s most formidable marine predators. Growing up to 17 feet (5 meters) in length, it used its powerful tail and broad, winglike pectoral fins to surge swiftly through the surface waters. Its massive upturned jaws, armed with long, fanglike teeth, made it a deadly hunter capable of swallowing large prey whole. Fossil evidence even reveals smaller fish preserved inside its stomach, a testament to its ferocity. With its bulldog-like appearance and predatory dominance, Xiphactinus was truly a terror of the ancient seas.

A 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) Xiphactinus could open its jaw wide enough to swallow six-foot-long (two-meter-long) fish whole, but it itself was occasionally prey to the shark Cretoxyrhina.

Xiphactinus Audex trolled an ancient ocean called the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of central North America during the Cretaceous. Though long extinct, if alive today, the bony fish would look like a giant, fanged tarpon.