Kansas in the Cretaceous
100 million years ago Kansas was covered in sea water. This was the Cretaceous Era in geology, the final act in the reign of dinosaurs. While those animals were dominant in Colorado and to the north, mosasaurs, sharks and turtles ruled the Kansas sea. Mosasaurs were 30-40 foot sharp-toothed reptiles -- predecessors of plesiosaurs, the animal that closely resembles what the purported Loch Ness monster seems to be. Oysters by the gazillion were among the other denizens of our sea, along with crinoids or 'sea lilies', which are actually animals (echinoderms, related to starfish). Pteranodons (similar to pterodactyls) soared through our skies. Learn more courtesy of Keystone Gallery
The chalk deposits from this sea's bed are among the richest Cretaceous fossil fields, and they lie just to the south of Colby. Monument Rocks or the Pyramids are amazing 50 foot spires rising abruptly out of the relatively flat prairie south of Oakley near US83. While this area is picked over for fossils, Hell's Bar, Little Jerusalem and other outcrops, and numerous bluffs in Gove County, offer a guarantee of finding osyter fossils, a fair chance at a shark's tooth, and possibly a crinoid, shark vertebra or mosasaur part for the extremely lucky. Be sure to seek landowner permission when exploring these areas (permission to visit Monument Rocks is open).
The Sternberg Museum in Hays has an excellent collection of Cretaceous fossils, many collected by world-renown George Sternberg, as well as other fossils, animated full-size dinosaurs, rotating exhibits and a kid's exploration room. The Fick Museum in Oakley has a number of fossils collected by Vi and Ernie Fick, including a fish within a fish, thousands of shark's teeth arranged as artwork, and other items. Regrettably, some of these were painted by Vi, but they make an interesting collection nonetheless. If you can catch them at home, the Keystone Gallery on US83 just 2 miles past the Smoky Hill, south of Oakley, has fossils on display and for sale.