Kurt Spearing, an associate professor of natural and mathematical sciences at Morningside University, displays three vertebra from a mosasaur
The Sioux City Journal has a story about the discovery of a mosasaur vertebral segment in Iowa. The fossil is about 4 inches long and consists of three fused vertebrae. It was found by Tyler McDonald of Sanborn, Iowa back in 2015. He found it while unloading rocks onto the roof of a building. Morningside College associate anatomy professor Kurt Spearing determined it was from a mosasaur and presented the finding at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
"If my assertion is correct that this is the first mosasaur discovered in Iowa, that would be significant in itself," said Spearing, whose research focus is paleontology.
Thus far, no one has challenged his claim, increasing the probability that the fossil, quarried from a gravel pit near Ashton in Osceola County, is the first evidence of mosasaurs found in Iowa. It makes sense, given Northwest Iowa was on the edge of a large inland sea millions of years ago.
"Anytime you can drag scientific knowledge forward a few steps, you've got to consider that a win," Spearing said.
McDonald was referred to Spearing by one of the professor's colleagues in North Dakota. When he first saw the fossil in 2021, it was obvious they were vertebrae. Doing comparisons, he quickly determined they likely were from a mosasaur, a large marine reptile that lived between 65 million and 99 million years ago. Spearing compared the fossil with those in other museum collections and shared photos and a 3D scan of the fossil with other experts who agreed he had the fossilized tail vertebrae of one of two species of mosasaur, a creature whose fossils have been found in Nebraska, South Dakota, other Midwest states and around the world.
