.75" Plant (Ceratophyllum?) Fossil - Green River Formation, Wyoming

Plant (Ceratophyllum?) Fossil - Green River Formation, Wyoming #268511

This is a .75" long plant fossil collected from the "gastropod layer" of Lindgren Quarry at the Green River Formation of Wyoming. It appears to be an aquatic plant in the family Ceratophyllaceae (Ceratophyllum), however with such a small amount of the plant present, it's difficult to provide an accurate identification. While this formation is best known for well preserved fossil fish, a variety of other flora and fauna fossils can be found throughout the layers of rock.

This specimen is accompanied by 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.