Ancient Dinosaur Fish Vertebrae
Approx 83 Million Years Old (Cretaceous Period)
Species - Ichtyodectes
Discovered - Niobrara Formation, Smoky Hill Chalk, Grove CO, Kansas USA
 
These fossil vertebrae come from the giant fish that lived alongside Dinosaurs in what is now the Great Plains of the United States.
 
- Ichtyodectes
Ichthyodectes is an extinct genus of ichthyodectid fish which lived during the Late Cretaceous. Fossils of the species included have been found from Canada to Texas.
 
Ichthyodectes ctenodon was a ichthyodectid around 3 m (9.8 ft) in length. It lived in the Western Interior Seaway of North America during the late Cretaceous. It was closely related to the 4–6 m (13–20 ft) long Xiphactinus audax, and the 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long Gillicus arcuatus, and like other ichthyodectids, I. ctenodon is presumed to have been a swift predator of smaller fish. As its species name suggests, I. ctenodon had small, uniformly sized teeth, as did its smaller relative, G. arcuatus, and may have simply sucked suitably sized prey into its mouth.