3.8" Knightia Eocaena Fossil Fish Green River FM Wyoming Eocene Age COA & Stand

Location: Kemmerer, Wyoming

Weight: 7.9 Ounces

Dimensions: 6.5 Inches Long, 3.7 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick (Plate)

Fish Dimensions: 3.8 Inches Long, 1.2 Inches Wide

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Comes with a Free Stand.

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

50 million years old, Eocene age

Knightia Eocaena is the most common fish in Fossil Lake and may be the most commonly articulated vertebrate fossil in the world. It is Wyoming's State Fossil. Length:  up to 25 cm (10 in).

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 unique chemistry of Fossil Lake played a crucial role in preserving ancient life. Its conditions prevented both decay and scavenging, allowing delicate remains to fossilize undisturbed. Over time, millimeter-thick layers of limestone gradually accumulated, creating finely laminated deposits. These rocks contain the highest concentration of fossil fish in the world, along with other aquatic organisms and remarkable geologic features.

Because of this exceptional preservation, Fossil Lake is recognized as the world’s most important Paleogene record of a freshwater lake ecosystem, offering scientists an unparalleled window into life from 50 million years ago.

Since the discovery in the 1870s, many perfectly preserved fossil fish have been recovered. Preserved within the fish in the laminated limestone is a complete aquatic ecosystem, comprising cyanobacteria, plants, insects, crustaceans (such as shrimp, crawfish, and ostracods), amphibians (including a primitive salamander and a frog), alligators, turtles, birds, and mammals, including the oldest known pantolestid (an 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 miacod (a primitive carnivore), insects, and more than 325 types of leaves, seeds, and flowers.