"Just Fooling Around"...

...And having fun at the one of the local attractions today, our grand daughters were intrigued by the Fossils - and especially this big one - an XIPHACTINUS - or - A BULLDOG FISH...

...A fairly mean- looking fellow the BULLDOG FISH is a cretaceeous teleotean fish..
They were an aggressive predator in the ocean and many species grew to a length of over 20 feet..

...THE BULLDOG FISH is one of the largest of the known fossil fish...A few complete specimens have been found with smaller (6 foot) fish within their abdominal cavity.

...Beside their large size, the genus is well characterized by its large jaws with powerful rugged teeth..The old teeth were constantly being shed and new ones taking their place thus having fully developed and young teeth on the same jaw...

...The pectoral fin is large and its rays powerful, probably forming weapons of offense and defense...

...This partial fossil is 82-86 million years old...(just give or take a few million, that is!..)

...A great day out with the girls, such fun...