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I know this is before the time frame of my site, but a while back I did this Tylosaurus* for Oregon Public Broadcasting. After they had used it on a program about evolution, I sent it to Mike Everhart. Mike is Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University, Kansas, and the creator of the “Oceans of Kansas” website. If you’ve never stopped by this incredible site, please do so. For a great part of prehistory, what is now Kansas lay beneath a shallow sea. Mike is an expert on marine reptiles, and has gifted the curious with the best resource imaginable about these remarkable animals and their place and time in the deep past. I am simply in awe of the prodigious amount of work involved. There are hundreds of photos of exquisite fossils, and the writing is vivid and accessible to both the professional scientist and interested layperson. Mike flattered me by using the Tylosaurus as the header on of one of his articles.

And if that weren’t enough, my friend Dan Varner has his magnificent paintings of the inhabitants of this watery world on display to illustrate the vibrant and savage web of life beneath the waves.

* This painting has had a life of its own. Of all the things I’ve ever done, this is the piece for which I’ve received the most requests for use. It illustrates fossil exhibits in small museums and decorates the title page of dissertations and articles, and apparently, one roadside sign. People from 9 countries and 11 states have asked permission to use it. I had no idea.