Wow! This is a very large, 34 cm long Mioplosus labracoides collected from the Green River Formation. The fish is extremely detailed with dark preservation typical of the the 18 inch layer. It's nicely presented on a 38 x 30 cm slab of shale. The fish bones are 3D, the skull is huge and strong, the vertebrae and the ribs are not compressed. The tail is a real marvel: all the parts are so well preserved, the hypural and both caudal fins rays to the tip. All the fins are in a high quality, 3d: dorsal, ventral anal, ray of the posterioir dorsal. Teeth are well preserved too. While, like most fish from the 18 inch layer there is some minor touchup restoration work, but the fish has not been painted and is it's natural color. 50 million years ago, in the Eocene, these fish thrived in Fossil Lake, which was fed by 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 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. A museum piece, elegant and intrinsically historical, it furnishes any space, giving importance to the rooms. From an old collection.