4.6" Knightia Fish Fossil - Wyoming

This is a large example of a 50 million year old fossil herring from the Green River Formation of Wyoming. The species is Knightia eocaena and it was collecting at the Fossil Lake Safari Quarry near Kemmerer. It's nicely preserved with great detail including fins and scales. It comes with an acrylic display stand.

About Knightia

Knightia is an extinct genus of small, schooling, ray-finned fish related to modern herrings and sardines. Abundant in the warm freshwater lakes of the Eocene Green River Formation, they fed on insects, plankton, and tiny fish, while serving as prey for nearly every larger predator in the ecosystem. The most common species, Knightia eocena, reached about 15 cm in length and is celebrated today as the state fossil of Wyoming.

These streamlined fish are recognized by their heavy scales, small conical teeth, and rows of dorsal and ventral scutes along the body. Their fossils are among the most iconic from the Green River Formation—an exceptional 48-million-year-old lake deposit in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah known for preserving a remarkably detailed snapshot of ancient life in a warm, lake-rich Eocene landscape.

SPECIES

Knightia eocaena

AGE

Eocene (~51 million years)