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Kansas Platecarpus ictericus Mosasaur Skull late Cretaceous Period Dinosaur Era

$ 4488

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Condition: All our fossils have been expertly prepared and hardened!. Please ask questions! All of our fossils for sale have been found, collected and prepared by the seller.This is not a cast!
  • Modified Item: No
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted

    Description

    A very nice Platecarpus ictericus Mosasaur skull from the Kansas Smoky Hill Chalk, Niobrara Formation, Western Interior seaway This specimen was collected using plaster in the field.
    Platecarpus was the mid-sized mosasaur that swam in the
    Niobrara (Western Interior)
    seaway.
    It is the most common of the three mosasaur groups.
    Platecarpus averaged fifteen feet in length and had large paddles and a robust skull.
    This individual would have been 20' long if the rest of the specimen hadn't washed away.
    They had hinged jaws like a snake and could swallow their prey whole.
    The small pterygoid jaws aided the process of helping pull their catch inside.
    This specimen also has a very nice quadrate (hinge bone). One cervical vertebrae and all the fossil bone is beautifully preserved.
    Lower jaw: 22" with 12 teeth
    Upper jaw: 13 teeth with 5 pterygoid teeth (gullet teeth) visible under the eye socket.
    Specimen weight: 20 lbs
    Frame Size: 32" across, 15 3/4" height, 3 1/2" deep
    Framed in oak with a hanger on the back. Description card is included.
    Please ask questions about this excellent specimen from the Western Interior Seaway 80 million years ago.
    As always, our
    fossils for sale
    were found, cleaned and prepared by the seller. If you have questions or would like additional photographs, please ask.
    Shipped in a wood crate.