35.9" Multiple Fossil Fish (Notogoneus & Diplomystus) - Wall Mount

Multiple Fossil Fish (Notogoneus & Diplomystus) - Wall Mount #300613

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This is an exciting natural fossil fish association featuring a 7.7" long Diplomystus dentatus fish and a large, 20.5" long Notogoneus osculus fish, one of the more uncommon fish to come out of the Green River formation. A relatively large coprolite can be seen just beneath the Notogoneus. The fossils were collected near Kemmerer, Wyoming. They're nicely displayed across a 35.9 x 23.9" rectangular-cut slab of shale.

The rock has been backed with wood and wall hangers for horizontal hanging display. Both fish have been coated in a sealant for preservation and color enhancement. There is a repaired crack that runs up the middle of the plate through the Notogoneus fish.

Notogoneus was a predator and the down-turned mouth is probably an indicator that it fed on prey along the lake's bottom. It is thought that its scarcity results from the fact that it's believed to have migrated between the lake and the rivers that fed it, throughout the year.

About Diplomystus

Diplomystus is an extinct genus of freshwater, ray-finned predators that are distantly related to modern herrings and sardines. Diplomystus has a distinctive jaw that protrudes aggressively outward from the mouth at an angle that allowed it to feed in surface waters and devour such prey as the smaller, schooling Knightia.

50 million years ago in the Eocene (55.8 mya to 33.8 mya), D. dentatus thrived in lakes fed by the Uinta and Rocky Mountain highlands. D. dentatus is uniquely entombed in the fine-grained lime mud of Fossil Lake.

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 in 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.

By the end of the Eocene, Earth developed icehouse climate characteristics and had a change in atmospheric chemistry. The effects of bolide impacts may also have contributed to the eventual loss of flora and fauna at once verdant latitudes.

Today the wonderfully preserved fossils of Diplomystus and other Fossil Lake fauna are collected in several private quarries around Kemmerer, Wyoming. The best preserved fish fossils come from the coveted 18 Inch Layer. This layer is collected at night under high-powered lights, enhancing the faint signs of fish under the surface indicating underlying fossils. These “ghosted” fish then must go through many hours of manual preparation to remove the overlying rock and reveal the Green River fauna in all of its glory.

About Fossil Lake

50 million years ago, in the Eocene epoch, 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.