Everhart, M.J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. – Bloomington, Indiana University Press

Abstract

Mike Everhart is Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hays State University and owner of the award winning homepage www.oceansofkansas.com. His book ‘Oceans of Kansas’ gives an overview of the Cretaceous of Kansas; including geology, taxonomy and history of the (mainly marine) fossils. The book is not a pure scientific book but rather written for the larger public; it has been named the featured book from Kansas for the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.

Invertebrates and trace fossils are shortly introduced in chapter three (17 pages), whereas the rest of the book is focussing on vertebrates and especially reptiles. Many of the beautifully preserved specimens have been found during the past 150 years and were sent to collections all over the world. Each group is treated in a separate chapter: sharks (chapter four); other fishes (chapter five), turtles (chapter six), elasmosaurs (chapter seven), other plesiosaurs (chapter eight), mosasaurs (chapter nine), pterosaurs (chapter ten), birds (chapter 11) and dinosaurs (chapter 12). The chapters are well illustrated with photos or drawings and included in the book are twelve colour plates. Plate one is showing a geologic map of Kansas, the others are wonderful live reconstruction’s made by the artist Dan Varner. At the end of the book you will find a most complete reference list of probably all papers written about Kansas Cretaceous vertebrates. Read more...