14.2" Fossil Fish (Phareodus) With Diplomystus - Wyoming

This is a fantastic, 14.2" long example of one of the more uncommon fossil fish found in the Green River Formation, Phareodus. Just check out the closeup photos to see the detail in this magnificent specimen. There is a 3.7" long Diplomystus just below the the tail fin.

The large fish is on an irregularly shaped 18.3x11.4" slab of shale which has been backed with hardie board for stability. There are two crack repairs running through the rock on the very edge of the fish, but they are very well done and not visible. There is some restoration along these repairs, the raised vertebrae of the fish and a few other spots on the upper portion of the fish.

A very impressive display piece. We can install a french cleat wall hanger for no charge.

If you look closely you can see how Phareodus has a mouthful of sharp pointy teeth making is a voracious lake predator. In fact the name Phareodus actually means "to have tooth" Spines from other fish such as Mioplosus and Priscacara have frequently been found preserved in it's stomach.
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
Phareodus testis & Diplomystus dentatus
LOCATION
Fossil Safari Quarry, Kemmerer, Wyoming
FORMATION
Green River Formation
SIZE
14.2" long on 18.3x11.4" rock
CATEGORY
ITEM
#107468
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