8.05" Detailed Fossil Fish (Diplomystus) - Wyoming

Diplomystus is an extinct genus of freshwater, ray-finned predators that are distantly related to modern herrings and sardines. Diplomystus has a distinctive jaw that protrudes aggressively outward from the mouth at an angle that allowed it to feed in surface waters and devour such prey as the smaller, schooling Knightia.

50 million years ago in the Eocene (55.8 mya to 33.8 mya), D. dentatus thrived in lakes fed by the Uinta and Rocky Mountain highlands. D. dentatus is uniquely entombed in the fine-grained lime mud of Fossil Lake.

The anoxic conditions at the bottom of Fossil Lake slowed bacterial decomposition, prevented scavengers from disturbing corpses, and, most interestingly, suffocated creatures that ventured into the oxygen-starved aquatic layer. The result is a miraculous exhibition of Eocene biota in a subtropical aquatic community within sycamore forests, teeming with creatures such as freshwater stingrays, dog-sized horses, menacing alligators, early flying bats, and one of the first primates.

By the end of the Eocene, Earth developed icehouse climate characteristics and had a change in atmospheric chemistry. The effects of bolide impacts may also have contributed to the eventual loss of flora and fauna at once verdant latitudes.

Today the wonderfully preserved fossils of Diplomystus and other Fossil Lake fauna are collected in several private quarries around Kemmerer, Wyoming. The best preserved fish fossils come from the coveted 18 Inch Layer. This layer is collected at night under high-powered lights, enhancing the faint signs of fish under the surface indicating underlying fossils. These “ghosted” fish then must go through many hours of manual preparation to remove the overlying rock and reveal the Green River fauna in all of its glory.

Specimens like this come from the coveted 18 inch layer of the Green River Formation, which produces darker and more detailed fish than the majority on the market. The rock from this layer is much harder and more durable than other layers in the formation, likely due to its initial deposition conditions in deep water. Because of these conditions, fish found in the 18-inch layer can be extracted whole and in excellent condition. This layer is typically collected at night using low-angle light to see the bump in the rock that the fish's backbone creates. They then cut these fish out and take them to a lab where the fish, which may be up to an inch under the surface of the rock, are meticulously extracted under microscope with hand tools.

50 million years ago, in the Eocene epoch, these fish thrived in Fossil Lake, which was fed by the Uinta and Rocky Mountain highlands. The anoxic conditions at the bottom of Fossil Lake slowed bacterial decomposition, prevented scavengers from disturbing corpses, and, most interestingly, suffocated creatures that ventured into the oxygen-starved aquatic layer. The result is a miraculous exhibition of Eocene biota: a subtropical aquatic community within sycamore forests, teeming with creatures such as freshwater stingrays, dog-sized horses, menacing alligators, early flying bats, and one of the first primates.