Spectacular, 47" Fossil Fish Mortality Plate - Wyoming

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This 47" fossil fish "Mural" with a 10.4" long Mioplosus and 21 other fish, would make a stunning centerpiece in any room. It's like having a window that looks under the water and into the past right from your home! Murals like that are commonly made by individually extracting the fish fossils and carefully inlaying them to a larger piece of shale to create a natural aesthetic. In this case, the Mioplosus and the large unidentified fish have been inlaid into this large slab of shale. The 15 Knightia fish and 5 Diplomystus were naturally associated with each other prior to the inlaying of the two largest fish. These fish came out of the 18 inch layer at the Lindgren Quarry near Kemmerer, Wyoming.

A combination of natural preservation and skilled craftsmanship brings the prehistoric waters to life in a piece sure to be a conversation starter! Backed with wood for stability and having a wall hanger already installed, it's ready to be hung on the wall or mantle right away.

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
Mioplosus labracoides, Diplomystus dentatus & Knightia eocaena
LOCATION
Lindgren Quarry, Kemmerer, WY
FORMATION
Green River Formation
SIZE
47 x 36", 150 lbs, Mioplosus 10.4" long
CATEGORY
ITEM
#179322
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