Thursday, May 24, 2012

Where to find fish fossils

By Steve Sharp


The Green River Formation is a bunch of lake beds in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah that is famous for its fish fossils. This prime fossil discovering site is known for its well saved fish, plants, and the infrequent amphibian or even mammal uncovered by professional and non-professional fossil hunters. Fishing for fish fossils is the favorite pastime of those individuals that try to dig up answers to the past from this collection of fifty million years old lake beds.

Multiple sorts of fish fossils have been discovered in the Green River Formation. Roughly 60 vertebrate taxa have been revealed in the Green River Formation, and at least 95% of the fish fossils that archaeologists unearth are Knightia fish. These fish are so usually discovered at Green River the Knightia has been named Wyoming's state fossil. Other sorts of fish fossils that could be discovered at the Green River Formation are Priscacara liops, Priscacara hypsacantha, Mioplosus labracoides, and Phareodus testis.

The majority of the fish fossils unearthed at Green River are removed from 2 main sedimentary layers; one layer is called the 18 in. layer and the other one is called the split fish layer. Fish fossils from the Green River Formation are generally collected in 2 ways. The first way means the removal of a complete slab of limestone or oil shale from Green River and carefully removing sediment from 1/2 the fossil. The second way involves scrupulously extracting the whole fossil from the sediment for showing.

Other kinds of fossils are typically found at the Green Brook Formation; fish may be the main attraction, but other kinds of life forms are uncovered there all of the time. Sycamore leaves, brook reeds, and wood specimens have been found there, as have stromalites, reptiles, mammals, and primates. The oldest recovered flying mammal fossil was revealed at Green River; the Icaronycteris index was a bat that was recovered in total complete along with wing surfaces and cartilage. Crocodiles can also be found at the Green River Formation along with the infrequent horse.

Fish fossils could be the key draw for fossil hunters who dig in the Green River Formation, but an incredible horse fossil was latterly revealed at Green River by a fossil quarry master. This Protorohippus venticolum fossil is one of the oldest and most complete fossil example of its type; its finder claims that the fossil contains 95 to 97% of all parts. The fossil has been nicknamed "Dawn" and is thought to be over 50 million years old. The existing requested price is roughly $2.25 million; this fossil has been validated by professionals and is prepared for display as a wall sculpture. 4 fossilized fish have also been caught in this formation, making this rare Protorohippus venticolum an absolute must-have for significant fossil collectors.




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