Diplomystus & Knightia Fossil Fish - Wyoming

This is a pair of detailed fossil fish from the Green River Formation of Wyoming. There is a 4.5" long Diplomystus dentatus preserved right next to a 4.7" long Knightia eocaena. They have dark brown/black preservation and are located on a thick, rectangularly cut slab of shale.

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.