XL 4" Knightia Eocaena Fossil Fish Green River FM WY Eocene Age COA & Stand

Location: Kemmerer, Wyoming

Weight: 1 Pound 2.9 Ounces

Dimensions: 6.1 Inches Long, 5.3 Inches Wide, 0.5 Inches Thick (Plate)

Fish Dimensions: 4 Inches Long, 1.2 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).

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 prevented decay and scavenging, allowing organisms to be preserved intact. Over time, millimeter-thick layers of limestone gradually accumulated, forming finely laminated deposits that contain the highest concentration of fossil fish in the world. Together with other aquatic organisms and preserved geologic features, these fossils make Fossil Lake the most complete Paleogene record of a 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, which includes cyanobacteria, plants, insects, and crustaceans such as shrimp, crawfish, and ostracods, along with amphibians (frogs and primitive salamanders), alligators, turtles, birds, and mammals, including the oldest known pantolestid, an otter-like animal.

The surrounding subtropical terrestrial ecosystem is also represented, with rare fossils such as an early horse, snakes, lizards, two bat species, birds, an apatemyid (arboreal insectivore), a miacod (primitive carnivore), various insects, and over 325 species of fossilized leaves, seeds, and flowers. Together, these discoveries provide an unparalleled glimpse into aquatic and terrestrial life during the Eocene Epoch.