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

Location: Kemmerer, Wyoming

Weight: 13.2 Ounces

Dimensions: 6 Inches Long, 3.9 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick (Plate)

Fish Dimensions: 3.1 Inches Long, 1.4 Inches Wide

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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.

Fifty million years ago, ancient Fossil Lake existed in what is now southwest Wyoming. Of its estimated maximum extent of 930 square miles, approximately 500 square miles of sediment remains. The 230 square miles across the center of the ancient lake-bed contain exceptionally fossiliferous sediments and associated geologic features, including deltas, beaches, springs, and rocks from the center and nearshore environments.

The distinctive chemistry of this fossil lake inhibited decomposition and scavenging of organic remains, while successive millimeter-thick layers of alternating limestone accumulated gradually. This process produced finely laminated limestones that preserve the world’s highest density of fossil fish. These specimens, alongside other aquatic fauna and sedimentary features, establish Fossil Lake as the foremost Paleogene archive of a freshwater lacustrine ecosystem. Since its initial identification in the 1870s, numerous exquisitely preserved fossil fish have been excavated. Within these laminated strata lies a complete aquatic community, including cyanobacteria, aquatic plants, insects, crustaceans (such as shrimp, crawfish, and ostracods), amphibians (frogs and early salamanders), alligators, turtles, avian species, and mammals like the earliest pantolestid. The surrounding subtropical terrestrial habitat is also documented through rare fossils—horses, snakes, lizards, bats, arboreal insectivores such as apatemyids, primitive carnivores, a variety of insects, and an extensive flora represented by over 325 leaf, seed, and flower types.

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.