Xiphactinus Vertebra and Carbonized Wood
This top part of this photo shows the additional 49 vertebra found with the Cretaceous fish Xiphactinus shown on page 4. The bottom half shows a Cretaceous age log. It was recovered from a shale pit in southwestern Smith Co. Kansas. Numerous invertebrates lived on this log before it was buried in the sediment, and most of them are still in place. The "log" is seven feet long, 1.5 inches thick and 13 inches wide at the right hand end.
Eremotherium rusconii, vertebra
This is a partial vertebra of a Giant Ground Sloth called Eremotherium rusconii. This animal lived during the Pleistocene Period, and was found in Levy County, Florida.
Xyne grex, fish
Two examples of the Xyne grex fish. It was collected from the Modello Formation of the Miocene Period. This particular fish is from Sherman Oaks, California.
Pachyrhizodus leptosis Jaw
Pachyrhizodus was a Lower Cretaceous fish. It was a middle sized to large fish with a very deep head. Snout was pointed and with long pointed teeth. The eyes were very large. This fish doesn't have recent relatives, as it died out in the Lower Cretaceous.
I found these jaws two miles east and 1 mile north of Smith Center, Kansas on March 26, 2000.
Columbian Mammoth, Humerus
Here's the humerus from a Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi). The Columbian mammoth was up to 13 feet in height and weighed an estimate 10 tons. The details of its external appearance are in part speculative but, since the animal lived in a more southerly habitat, it is likely that its coat was much less developed than the woolly mammoth.
This bone is 36 inches long, 11 inches wide at the ends and weighs 39 pounds.
This humerus was recovered in northeastern Smith County, Kansas on January 1, 2000, with the help of Arden and Liz Roush. They supplied film, water for the plaster cast, pry bars and lots of moral support.
