Revised, updated, and expanded with the latest interpretations and fossil discoveries, the second edition of Oceans of Kansas adds new twists to the fascinating story of the vast inland sea that engulfed central North America during the Age of Dinosaurs. Giant sharks, marine reptiles called mosasaurs, pteranodons, and birds with teeth all flourished in and around these shallow waters. Their abundant and well-preserved remains were sources of great excitement in the scientific community when first discovered in the 1860s and continue to yield exciting discoveries 150 years later. Michael J. Everhart vividly captures the history of these startling finds over the decades and re-creates in unforgettable detail these animals from our distant past and the world in which they lived-above, within, and on the shores of America's ancient inland sea.
Michael J. Everhart, Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, is an expert on the Late Cretaceous of western Kansas. He is the creator of the award-winning "Oceans of Kansas" paleontology website at www.oceansofkansas.com. He lives in Derby, Kansas.
Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1. Introduction: An Ocean in Kansas? 2. Our Discovery of the Western Interior Sea 3. Invertebrates, Plants, and Trace Fossils 4. Sharks: Sharp Teeth and Shell Crushers 5. Fishes, Large and Small 6. Turtles: Leatherback Giants 7. Where the Elasmosaurs Roamed 8. Pliosaurs and Polycotylids 9. Enter the Mosasaurs 10. Pteranodons: Rulers of the Air 11. Feathers and Teeth 12. Dinosaurs? 13. The Big Picture Epilogue: Where Did It Go? References Index
"Oceans of Kansas remains the best and only book of its type currently available. Everhart's treatment of extinct marine reptiles synthesizes source materials far more readably than any other recent, nontechnical book-length study of the subject . . . ."-Copeia, reviewing a previous edition or volume "Excellent . . . Those who are interested in vertebrate paleontology or in the scientific history of the American midwest should really get a copy. You will not be disappointed!"-PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology , reviewing a previous edition or volume "[The book] will be most useful to fossil collectors working in the local region and to historians of vertebrate paleontology. . . . Recommended."-Choice, reviewing a previous edition or volume "Oceans of Kansas remains the best and only book of its type currently available. Everhart's treatment of extinct marine reptiles synthesizes source materials far more readably than any other recent, nontechnical book-length study of the subject . . . ."-Copeia "[The book] will be most useful to fossil collectors working in the local region and to historians of vertebrate paleontology. . . . Recommended."-Choice "Excellent . . . Those who are interested in vertebrate paleontology or in the scientific history of the American midwest should really get a copy. You will not be disappointed!"-PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
