3.1" Diplomystus Dentatus Fossil Fish Green River FM WY Eocene Age COA, Stand

Location: Kemmerer, Wyoming

Weight: 7.2 Ounces

Dimensions: 5.6 Inches Long, 3.7 Inches Wide, 0.3 Inches Thick (Plate)

Fish Dimensions: 3.1 Inches Long, 1.1 Inches Wide

Comes with a Free Stand.

Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

56 million years old, Eocene age.

Diplomystus Dentatus morphology, including its upturned mouth, is typical of a surface-feeding fish. The genus is herrings that likely fed on small surface-dwelling fish, as Knightia is evidenced by numerous fossils found with Knightia in the stomach or mouth.

Approximately fifty million years ago, Fossil Lake occupied the region now known as southwest Wyoming. Of its estimated maximum area of 930 square miles, roughly 500 square miles of sediment deposits remain. The central 230 square miles of the lakebed contain highly fossiliferous strata and distinctive geological features such as deltas, beaches, springs, and sediments from both nearshore and central lacustrine environments. The lake’s unique chemical composition inhibited decomposition and scavenging, allowing for the gradual accumulation of millimeter-scale alternating limestone layers. These laminated limestones preserve the world’s richest concentration of fossil fish, providing an unparalleled Paleogene record of a freshwater lake ecosystem.

Since the discovery in the 1870s, many perfectly preserved fossil fish have been recovered. Preserved with the fish in the laminated limestone is a complete aquatic ecosystem: cyanobacteria, plants, insects, crustaceans (shrimp, crawfish, and ostracods), amphibians (frog and primitive salamander), alligators, turtles, birds, and mammals, including the oldest pantolestid (otter-like animal). The subtropical terrestrial ecosystem surrounding the lake is also represented by rare fossils, including a horse, two snakes, lizards, two bat species, birds, an apatemyid (an arboreal insectivore), a minced (a primitive carnivore), insects, and more than 325 types of leaves, seeds, and flowers.

Please be aware of the nature of fossils:

Being buried under the ground for millions of years under tons of pressure tends to be rough. No fossil comes out of the ground whole and perfect. Most fossils have undergone some restoration, while others are altered by man, simply to enhance their presentation in different ways. These are part of the natural beauty of the fossil and are not considered defects.