XL 4.8" Knightia Eocaena Fossil Fish Green River FM WY Eocene Age COA & Stand

Location: Kemmerer, Wyoming

Weight: 2 Pounds 5.5 Ounces 

Dimensions: 5.6 Inches Long, 4.4 Inches Wide, 1 Inch Thick (Plate)

Fish Dimensions: 4.8 Inches Long, 1.5 Inches Wide

Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Comes with a Free Stand.

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

This is a genuine fossil.

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 50 million years ago, during the Eocene Epoch, Fossil Lake covered what is now southwest Wyoming. At its largest, the lake spanned nearly 930 square miles, though today about 500 square miles of sediment remain. The central 230-square-mile area of the ancient lakebed preserves exceptionally fossil-rich sediments along with remarkable geologic features, including deltas, beaches, springs, and nearshore rock formations.

The unusual chemistry of the fossil lake prevented decay and scavenging of dead organisms while millimeter-thick layers of alternating limestone matter slowly accumulated. The result is laminated limestones that contain the highest concentration of fossil fish in the world. These fish, other aquatic organisms, and associated geologic features make Fossil Lake the world's best Paleogene record of the freshwater lake ecosystem. 

Since their discovery in the 1870s, numerous perfectly preserved fossil fish have been recovered from Fossil Lake. Encased in the laminated limestone, these fish are part of a complete ancient aquatic ecosystem, including cyanobacteria, plants, insects, and crustaceans such as shrimp, crawfish, and ostracods. Fossils of amphibians (frogs and primitive salamanders), alligators, turtles, birds, and mammals—including the oldest known pantolestid, an otter-like animal—further highlight the lake’s biodiversity.

The surrounding subtropical terrestrial ecosystem is also represented by rare fossils, including an early horse, snakes, lizards, bats (two species), birds, an apatemyid (tree-dwelling insectivore), a miacod (primitive carnivore), various insects, and more than 325 species of fossilized leaves, seeds, and flowers. Together, these discoveries provide an extraordinary glimpse into both aquatic and terrestrial life during the Eocene Epoch.