XL 4.6" Knightia Eocaena Fossil Fish Green River FM Wyoming Eocene Age COA & Stand
Location: Kemmerer, Wyoming
Weight: 9.6 Ounces
Dimensions: 5.3 Inches Long, 4.7 Inches Wide, 0.3 Inches Thick (Plate)
Fish Dimensions: 4.6 Inches Long, 1.6 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).
Around fifty million years ago, Fossil Lake covered much of what is today southwest Wyoming. This lake once spanned up to 930 square miles, with about 500 square miles of sediment still preserved. At its center, 230 square miles of the lakebed hold extraordinarily rich fossil-bearing layers featuring deltas, beaches, springs, and nearshore deposits. Unique chemical conditions in Fossil Lake prevented decomposition and scavenging, while thin alternating limestone layers slowly built up. These laminated limestones harbor the densest concentration of fossil fish worldwide, 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 miacod (a primitive carnivore), insects, and more than 325 types of leaves, seeds, and flowers.
