Kansas rocks are full of fossils. In the rock pictured above, all the fossils are invertebrates, animals without backbones. Although vertebrate fossils are also common in Kansas rocks, particularly in the Niobrara Chalk of the Smoky Hills, invertebrate fossils are much more numerous.
From the Flint Hills to the east, small invertebrate fossils (crinoids, corals, fusulinids, bryozoans, to name a few) are widespread in the limestones that crop out in roadcuts and stream banks. In the Smoky Hills region, the Fencepost limestone is loaded with clams and the Niobrara Chalk contains clams, oysters, as well as larger vertebrates, including fishes, sharks, and large swimming reptiles called mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.
Find out more about these Kansas fossils...
Check out the Oceans of Kansas web site for more information on the Cretaceous fossils of Kansas.