Huge, 18.4" Diplomystus Fish Fossil - Great Wall Mount

Huge, Diplomystus Fish Fossil - Great Wall Mount #77880

This is a very large, 18.4" long Diplomystus dentatus collected from the Green River Formation. The fish is extremely detailed with dark preservation typical of the the 18 inch layer. It's nicely presented on a 24x12 slab of shale that has been aesthetically shaped for display. It is backed with wood for stability and a hanger added so that it is ready to be hung on your wall.

Fossil fish from the 18 inch layer split out "ghosted" underneath the surface of the rock. Typically only bumps from the back bone can be seen in faint relief against the surface of the rock. Because of this they typically collect this layer at night using high powered lighting which allow them to better see the shadows from these bumps on the rock. These fish must then be prepared removing all of the matrix from on top of them, a very meticulous and time consuming process. While, like most fish from the 18 inch layer there is some minor touchup restoration work, but the fish has not been painted and is it's natural color.

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.