What are the most common kinds of fossils in Kansas and where can I find them?
Small fossils of invertebrate animals (those without backbones) are common in eastern Kansas. These are primarily the remains of animals that lived in shallow seas that covered the state about 320 to 245 million years ago. Brachiopods (shelled animals), corals, crinoids (a plant-like animal that is distantly related to starfish), sponges, and other animals can be found in many of the layers of limestone that line Kansas roads and highways. Stopping along the Kansas Turnpike (except for emergencies) is prohibited, and collectors should be careful any time they stop to collect along a highway. Less-traveled roads probably make better collecting locations. Larger vertebrate fossils are found in the chalk beds of western Kansas. These are primarily animals that lived in a sea that covered Kansas during the late Cretaceous Period, about 80 million years ago. Collectors regularly turn up fossils of fish, sharks, turtles, swimming reptiles called plesiousars and mosasaurs, and flying reptiles
