Huge, 24" Fossil Fish (Phareodus) - Check Out The Teeth!

This is a huge, 24" long Phareodus from the Green River Formation. It has very dark preservation and is in a solid piece of grey cap rock. This amazing specimen was found recently at the Lindgren Quarry near Kemmerer, Wyoming. Very nice preparation with quite a bit of relief against the rock. One very nice aspect of this fish is it's entirely natural, there is no restoration. Just check out those teeth!

The specimen comes with a custom metal display stand.

Phareodus is a genus of predatory freshwater fish found in the famous Fossil Lake deposits of the Green River Formation in Wyoming. It had a mouthful of sharp pointy teeth, making it a voracious lake predator. In fact, the name Phareodus actually means "to have teeth". Spines from other fish such as Mioplosus and Priscacara have frequently been found preserved in their stomachs.

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
LOCATION
Kemmerer, Wyoming
FORMATION
Green River Formation
SIZE
24" fish
CATEGORY
ITEM
#151608
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