Kansas Boy Discovers 15-Foot Tylosaurus Fossil During Geology Field Trip
An 11-year-old boy named Corbin Bullard discovered the remains of a 15-foot-long tylosaurus, a marine reptile from 85 million years ago, during a September 2025 geology club field trip near Clearwater, Kansas. The fossil was excavated over multiple trips and includes the animal's skull and most of its skeleton from the Cretaceous Period. The discovery highlights how commercial quarrying operations can expose paleontological specimens that might otherwise remain hidden.
Corbin Bullard, an 11-year-old member of the Sedgwick County 4-H Geology Club, spotted large vertebrae protruding from rock at a quarry near Clearwater, Kansas, during a September 2025 field trip. Over the course of three additional excavation trips, Bullard and fellow club members carefully uncovered nearly an entire tylosaurus specimen measuring more than 15 feet long, including the animal's enormous skull and most of its skeleton. Researchers dated the fossil to the Smoky Hill Chalk formation, placing the ancient marine predator at approximately 82 to 87 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. The discovery emerged from a quarry where commercial rock-removal operations routinely expose fossils that had been hidden for millions of years. Prior to this find, club members had primarily uncovered shark teeth and fish fossils at the site. Now 12 years old, Bullard plans to display the fossil's skull at the Sedgwick County Fair.
Limitations & open questions
The second source's headline references 'interaction between giant marine reptiles,' suggesting additional paleontological context or findings not detailed in the available excerpt from that article.
What different sources said
- Phys.orgCenter
Fossil discovery shows the interaction between giant marine reptiles
- New York PostRight
Kansas boy discovers 15-foot marine reptile fossil from 85 million years ago during geology field trip
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