Specimen:  RMDC 12.5 ft (cast)

Discovery:  Mike Triebold, 1994

Excavated:  Logan County, KS

Length:  12.5 ft

Skull:  2 ft

Weight:  est. 500 to 800 lbs

"Wow, that's a big fish!" In fact, it is the largest known bony fish (up to 20 ft long). This skull, a cast from an exceptionally well preserved Xiphactinus fossil, has a mouth full of menacing, sharp 3-inch teeth! Known as the "bulldog fish", several specimens have been collected with fossilized stomach contents. A well preserved 13 ft specimen (FHSM VP-333) in the Sternberg Museum (Hays, KS) has a 6 ft fish in its stomach.

Xiphactinus fossils have been unearthed in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Europe, Venezuela, and the United States (AL, GA, KS, NC, NJ). It is one of the most common fossils found in the landlocked state of Kansas.