Two Fossil Fish (Knightia) - Green River Formation, Wyoming

This is two fossil fish (Knightia) from the Green River Formation, near Kemmerer, Wyoming. The largest is 3.5". These two fish are one on top of the other. Detail of the smaller fish can be seen through the larger. This beautiful specimen is very well preserved on a slab of shale. It shows bone, scales and fin rays. Under magnification these details really stand out.

Comes with an acrylic 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)