This cast of Platecarpus istericus is based on a find made in 1987 by Michael Triebold's paleontology group. The fossil was discovered in the sediments of the Niobrara Formation located in Lane County, Kansas. This is one of many well preserved marine life fossils uncovered by this organisation. This is from an exhibit under the tent at the Animal Kingdom, Disney World, Orlando, Florida. 2000

During the late Cretaceous, around 75 million years ago, Platecarpus swam in the shallow seas that covered what is now Kansas. Not a dinosaur, it is a mososaur related more closely to the varanid, the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodensis), than to dinosaurs. Other related genera are Mosasaurus, Clidastes, and Tylosaurus.

Undulating from side to side, like a snake, and using its paddle-like feet for maneuvering, this reptile likely ate fish and squid-like cephalopods. The coiled shelled ammonites may also have been prey. Some fossil shells have scratches on them which could have been made by the narrow V-shaped jaws of Platecarpus.