Fossil Fish - Fossil plate matrix - Diplomystus Dentatus - 8.8 cm - 13 cm

In this lot a well-sized fossil fish is auctioned on a lithographic limestone plate of the species Diplomystus Dentatus. The plate measures 8.8 cm tall and 13 cm wide, and the fish body is 9.4 cm long. Perfect preservation, natural and complete specimen, “an exquisite example.” This piece has the peculiarity that at the back of the plate there are numerous scales and other remains such as spines from another larger fish. It comes from Wyoming, from the famous beds of the Green River Formation in the United States. Diplomystus was a freshwater fish of medium to large size, capable of reaching up to 70 cm in length, a generalist predator with an upturned mouth that inhabited near the surface to catch its prey; other fishes such as Knightia, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and any other prey smaller in size. The Green River Formation, which stretches across the states of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, is the result of the sedimentation of a vast lake region where various natural and geological events produced very fine clay and silt, creating low-oxygen environments and contributing to exquisite fossilization, including soft parts of a large number of animal and plant species as well as insects. Iconic site in paleontology for the quantity and quality of its fossils. “Comes with an L-shaped acrylic stand for display as a gift.”