Late Cretaceous marine vertebrates from Greenhorn Limestone of Kansas, date for oldest mosasaur remains (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
May 14, 2026, 7:57:44 PM (2 days ago) May 14
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Ben Creisler
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McKayla J. (MJ) Fitzpatrick and Kenshu Shimada (2026)
Late Cretaceous Marine Vertebrates from the Upper Half of the Pfeifer Shale Member of the Greenhorn Limestone in Central Kansas, USA, and Comments on the Geologically Oldest Mosasaur Remains in Kansas
Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 129(1-2): 33-46
doi: https://doi.org/10.1660/062.129.0105
https://bioone.org/journals/transactions-of-the-kansas-academy-of-science/volume-129/issue-1-2/062.129.0105/Late-Cretaceous-Marine-Vertebrates-from-the-Upper-Half-of-the/10.1660/062.129.0105.full
The Pfeifer Shale Member of the Greenhorn Limestone is an Upper Cretaceous rock unit broadly distributed throughout central Kansas, USA, that was formed in the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Here, we describe fossil marine vertebrates collected from the upper half (uppermost 3 m) of the Pfeifer Shale in Russell County, Kansas, based on surface-collected materials as well as bulk sampling from two separate horizons within the stratigraphic interval. This study recovered approximately 550 taxonomically identifiable vertebrate specimens, including remains of at least 12 chondrichthyans, nine osteichthyans, and one reptilian, representing a variety of trophic regimes. All the taxa described here have been documented from other Western Interior Seaway deposits, but a small tooth of Mosasauridae indet. from near the lowest limit range of the Collignoniceras woollgari Ammonite Zone (the earliest middle Turonian) represents the second geologically oldest fossil record of a mosasaur in Kansas. In addition, our re-examination of the oldest mosasaur record in Kansas suggests that it is likely early Turonian in age, rather than late Cenomanian as previously reported.
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Free pdf:
McKayla J. (MJ) Fitzpatrick and Kenshu Shimada (2026)
Late Cretaceous Marine Vertebrates from the Upper Half of the Pfeifer Shale Member of the Greenhorn Limestone in Central Kansas, USA, and Comments on the Geologically Oldest Mosasaur Remains in Kansas
Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 129(1-2): 33-46
doi: https://doi.org/10.1660/062.129.0105
https://bioone.org/journals/transactions-of-the-kansas-academy-of-science/volume-129/issue-1-2/062.129.0105/Late-Cretaceous-Marine-Vertebrates-from-the-Upper-Half-of-the/10.1660/062.129.0105.full
The Pfeifer Shale Member of the Greenhorn Limestone is an Upper Cretaceous rock unit broadly distributed throughout central Kansas, USA, that was formed in the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Here, we describe fossil marine vertebrates collected from the upper half (uppermost 3 m) of the Pfeifer Shale in Russell County, Kansas, based on surface-collected materials as well as bulk sampling from two separate horizons within the stratigraphic interval. This study recovered approximately 550 taxonomically identifiable vertebrate specimens, including remains of at least 12 chondrichthyans, nine osteichthyans, and one reptilian, representing a variety of trophic regimes. All the taxa described here have been documented from other Western Interior Seaway deposits, but a small tooth of Mosasauridae indet. from near the lowest limit range of the Collignoniceras woollgari Ammonite Zone (the earliest middle Turonian) represents the second geologically oldest fossil record of a mosasaur in Kansas. In addition, our re-examination of the oldest mosasaur record in Kansas suggests that it is likely early Turonian in age, rather than late Cenomanian as previously reported.
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