AGS / Geology / Fossils / Vertebrate Fossils
Compared to invertebrates, vertebrates are rare in the fossil record. Fossil bones are occasionally found in Cretaceous deposits of southwestern Arkansas where several extinct marine reptiles such as mosasaurs and dinosaurs have been discovered. Pleistocene age deposits (gravels, sinkhole fillings, and caves) have yielded mastodon and mammoth teeth and a variety of mammal bones.
By far the most common record of vertebrates is fossil teeth since these are the hardest parts of vertebrates. Shark teeth have been reported from several Paleozoic formations as well as from the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations. Whale and fish bones along with land mammals and reptiles are present in Tertiary deposits.
Click on the topics below to learn about vertebrates in Arkansas.
- Shark teeth and rays
- Mosasaurs and plesiosaurs
- Dinosaur bones
- Fish bones
- Ice-age mammals
