11.8" Large Fish Fossil (Mioplosus) - Wyoming

This is a 11.8" long, fossil fish (Mioplosus labracoides) from the Green River Formation of Wyoming. Mioplosus is one of the more uncommon species from formation. It's nicely centered on a solid, rectangularly cut slab of shale and comes with a display stand.

50 million years ago, in the Eocene, 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.

A view of one of the commercial quarries where fossils from the Green River Formation are collected.
A view of one of the commercial quarries where fossils from the Green River Formation are collected.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Mioplosus labracoides
LOCATION
Lindgren Quarry, Kemmerer, Wyoming
FORMATION
Green River Formation
SIZE
11.8" long on 16.2 x 7.7" rock
CATEGORY
ITEM
#163408
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