Great South Gems & Minerals

• Fossil fish Phareodus •
(Kemmerer, Wyoming)

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• Fossil fish Phareodus •
(Kemmerer, Wyoming)

Phareodus - Eocene Age - Green River - Fossil fish

Eocene Age, Green River Formation,from Kemmerer, Wyoming.
14 1/2 x 9 1/4 7.4 lbs. It has been repaired, but very nicely.

An area located in southwest Wyoming known as Fossil Lake is the source of these well preserved fossil fish. This area is within the Green River Formation, so named for the present day Green River there that is a tributary of the Colorado River. The material these fossils are being found in is a lime-mud sediment which formed in layers which permit splitting within the layers to revile the fossils therein. This fresh-water sediment contains an abundant quantity of fish, including fresh-water skate or stingray, pike, gar fish, many different species of plants, including sycamore, and bony plates, or scutes of crocodylian animals. Approximately 60 different vertebrate taxa have been found at Green River, including fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Eleven species of reptiles have been found there including one species of snake.

The oldest known flying mammal was found in the Green River Formation sediments, a bat, Icaronycteris index. This fossil shows a very well preserved skeleton, membranes and cartilage intact. It was discovered along with food still inside its body and waste not yet disposed, so some of the flora, algae, pollen and arthropods of the time can be studied.

These fossil fish are from the Eocene Epoch; 54 million to 37.5 million years ago.

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