.59" Fossil Insect - Green River Formation, Colorado

This is a .59" wide insect collected from the Green River Formation of Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado. While this formation is best known for well preserved fossil fish found in Wyoming, other sections of the formation contain a very diverse flora and insect fauna.

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.
A view of one of the commercial quarries where fossils from the Green River Formation are collected.


FOR SALE
$19 $16
DETAILS
SPECIES
Unidentified
LOCATION
Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado
FORMATION
Green River Formation
SIZE
Insect: .59" wide, Rock: 3.05 x 1.35"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#278135
GUARANTEE
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.