amnhnyc:

🐟Here’s a ferocious fossil fish for #FossilFriday: Xiphactinus audax. It lived during the Late Cretaceous some 85 million years ago. Xiphactinus and its relatives were large predators with strong jaws and many teeth.

🌊It swam in the great inland sea that covered most of North America at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Pictured is a skeleton cast that’s suspended from the ceiling of the Museum’s Hall of Vertebrate Origins—and a fossil specimen of this fish is on display in a case beneath it. The Museum is open daily from 10 am–5:30 pm. Plan your trip!

Photo: E. Louis/© AMNH

#AnimalFacts #fish #dyk #fossils #AncientAnimals #Cretaceous #amnh #museums #AncientOcean (at American Museum of Natural History)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAWWpJgu-Q/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=