Sea Monster Saturday! Xiphactinus
Any one with half a brain knows that the scariest place in the world is the ocean. That’s why here at El Fresco, every Saturday is Sea Monster Saturday! Over the last four hundred million years, there have been a whole bunch of big and nasty things coming out of the sea. And today’s is no exception!
Nothing says "Scary Sea Monster" like Kansas, right? Well trust me, it used to, because during the Cretaceous Period North America was split in two by the inland sea. And this inland sea was a scary friggin' place to be. The Western Inland Sea was filled with all sorts of huge carnivorous sea creatures that make a Great White look like your fat Aunt Sally (not that her fat ass isn't terrifying, but...). And one of those of those scary big bastards was this one: Xiphactinus audax.
Oh, sure, it's a painting I found online, it's not that scary. So, how about this one from an actual dig? This is a medium-sized specimen from a 1952 dig.
Yeah. Medium-sized. Discovered in 1872, Xiphactinus was a large bony fish from the late Cretaceous. And by 'large,' I mean it could grow up to be twenty feet long. Not only could this fish take your head off in a single bite, it could probably eat you in a single gulp if you wanted. Don't believe me? Well, that specimen above with all the people? Yeah, this is it mounted in the Sternberg Museum in Kansas:
That's a six foot skeleton of another fish inside the Xiphactinus. That's right, this fish was swallowed whole, and it was longer than I am tall.
And this thing had teeth, seriously. Observe:
Pointy sharp goodness! Xiphactinus was a scary big crazy fish, which is awesome. But he wasn't the biggest badass in the Inland Sea. Not by a long shot...
To be continued...
Nothing says "Scary Sea Monster" like Kansas, right? Well trust me, it used to, because during the Cretaceous Period North America was split in two by the inland sea. And this inland sea was a scary friggin' place to be. The Western Inland Sea was filled with all sorts of huge carnivorous sea creatures that make a Great White look like your fat Aunt Sally (not that her fat ass isn't terrifying, but...). And one of those of those scary big bastards was this one: Xiphactinus audax.
Oh, sure, it's a painting I found online, it's not that scary. So, how about this one from an actual dig? This is a medium-sized specimen from a 1952 dig.
Yeah. Medium-sized. Discovered in 1872, Xiphactinus was a large bony fish from the late Cretaceous. And by 'large,' I mean it could grow up to be twenty feet long. Not only could this fish take your head off in a single bite, it could probably eat you in a single gulp if you wanted. Don't believe me? Well, that specimen above with all the people? Yeah, this is it mounted in the Sternberg Museum in Kansas:
That's a six foot skeleton of another fish inside the Xiphactinus. That's right, this fish was swallowed whole, and it was longer than I am tall.And this thing had teeth, seriously. Observe:
Pointy sharp goodness! Xiphactinus was a scary big crazy fish, which is awesome. But he wasn't the biggest badass in the Inland Sea. Not by a long shot...
To be continued...
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