Mosasaur Fossils Found At Lake Henry

The fossil remains of a forty foot 85-million year old Mosasaur was found near the Lake Henry exposed shore line because of the present drought conditions in Crowley County. The local area is rich in natural historical resources, OJC and Crowley County Heritage Museum both hope to provide the area with another wonderful educational resource.

Jon Frazier 14, of Fowler spotted a part of an exposed jaw bone and teeth in August 2003. He contacted the right people, Jim Herrell an experienced amateur paleontologist and Bruce Schumacher, paleontologist for USDA Forest Service. Both are connected to Otero Junior College. They supervised the collection of vertebrae and four foot jaw bone. The fossils are being prepared for display at Wheeler Hall OJC in La Junta.

A similar find by Galen Baker in the same area, 25 years ago is documented and was sent to the Denver Museum of Natural Science. Frazier, Herrel and Schumacher thought it was important to keep the new find in this area. The fossils are being prepared for display at Wheeler Hall OJC. Because the fossils were found in Crowley County they thought it was important to co-operate with the Crowley County Heritage Museum, which will also prepare a display with information about the ancient marine reptile.

For more information and images of Mosasaurs visit the links below:
http://www.state.nd.us/hist/mus/mosa.htm
http://www.rnw.nl/science/html/mosasaurus000810.html