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I went for a creek ramble Friday to celebrate the last day of school and found these two fossils washed up next to each other on a gravel bar.  Turned out they fitted together perfectly - what you are looking at is the upper jawbone of a giant Cretaceous fish known as Xiphactinus - think of him as a tarpon on steroids.  Very rare to get this with some of the teeth still attached, although the largest fang (at the wide end of the jaw) is broken off.  This piece is about 16 inches long; the entire head of the fish would be the size of a sofa cushion at the end of a ten foot body.  Kinda glad these guys are extinct!

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/Indianasmith/22May15Fossilfinds%20002_zps9tdcepvf.jpg) (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/Indianasmith/media/22May15Fossilfinds%20002_zps9tdcepvf.jpg.html)

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/Indianasmith/22May15Fossilfinds%20003_zpspoqskbs7.jpg) (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/Indianasmith/media/22May15Fossilfinds%20003_zpspoqskbs7.jpg.html)

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/Indianasmith/22May15Fossilfinds%20008_zpszsr0rr36.jpg) (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/Indianasmith/media/22May15Fossilfinds%20008_zpszsr0rr36.jpg.html)

If they were here among us, my undies would sort them out quick style. No worries.  :wink:

I don't know.  Every once in a while I'll take out one of my old books of prehistoric animals and think of how cool it would be to see one of these beasts in the living flesh. 

I mean we keep lions, elephants, certain species of sharks, crocodiles and other large animals in zoos.  Whose to say if they didn't go extinct, we wouldn't  have a deinsuchous or a mastodon on display some where.     

It's not the ones in the zoo I would worry about - it's the ones circling underwater just offshore from the swimming area! LOL