Description
Location: Uintah County, Utah
Weight: 1.4 Ounces
Dimensions: 2.1 Inches Long, 1.8 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick (Plate)
Insect Dimensions: 0.6 Inches Long, 0.4 Inches Wide
The item pictured is the one you will receive.
50 million years old, Eocene age
March Fly Insect
Step back 50 million years to when Fossil Lake dominated southwestern Wyoming's landscape, stretching across nearly 930 square miles of pristine aquatic real estate. Today, about 500 square miles of sediment from this ancient wonder survive, with the innermost 230 square miles bursting with fossils galore. Thanks to the lake's one-of-a-kind chemistry, nothing decayed or got munched by scavengers—instead, gossamer-thin limestone layers accumulated slowly, creating nature's ultimate time capsule. These laminated rocks hold more fossil fish than anywhere else on Earth, making paleontologists absolutely giddy. But wait, there's more! Fossil Lake preserved an entire underwater world: cyanobacteria, aquatic plants, insects, shrimp, crawfish, frogs, salamanders, alligators, turtles, birds, and mammals—including the earliest known pantolestid, an adorable otter-like critter. The subtropical landscape surrounding the lake is also cut, with fossils of horses, snakes, lizards, bats, primitive meat-eaters, and over 325 plant varieties. Since collectors started finding these gems in the 1870s, Fossil Lake has remained the ultimate window into ancient freshwater life.
