paleonet Second hadrosaur from the Smoky Hill Chalk

[Mike Everhart <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,
Earlier this month, a friend of mine found a portion of the tail (9 
articulated vertebrae) of a dinosaur in the Smoky Hill Chalk. I was with 
him at the time and, although disappointed that I hadn't discovered the 
remains myself, I was pleased to be a part of their recovery:
http://www.oceansofkansas.com/new-dino.html

This is only the sixth dinosaur specimen (and second hadrosaur) to come 
from this marine formation in more than a 130 years (O.C. Marsh found 
the first hadrosaur remains there in 1871). All of the others are 
nodosaurs, including the type of /Niobrarasaurus coleii/.  The 
occurrence of dinosaur remains far from shore in the Smoky Hill Chalk is 
a bit of a puzzle because of the distance (hundreds of miles) between 
where they have been found and what was thought to be the nearest coast 
(east) of the Western Interior Sea at the time. They must have floated 
for a long time before reaching their final resting place. In this case, 
burial was somewhat hastened by the intervention of a large shark. It's 
possible that these and other remains were carried out to sea in tangled 
mats of trees and vegetation during floods....

Regards,

Mike Everhart
Adjunct Curator of Paleontology
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS
www.oceansofkansas.com