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Framed Fossil Fish Aspiration | Diplomystus dentatus eating another Diplomystus dentatus | Green River Formation | Wyoming

Framed Fossil Fish Aspiration | Diplomystus dentatus eating another Diplomystus dentatus | Green River Formation | Wyoming

by In Stone Fossils
$4,900.00 - $4,900.00
$4,900.00
$4,900.00 - $4,900.00
$4,900.00
Diplomystus dentatus
Eocene (51.98 Million Years Ago)
Private Quarry, Green River Formation, Wyoming, USA
Preparation by Carl Ulrich
Obtained from the collection of Dr. William Rieger



Specimen approx. size: 18.5"

Matrix in frame approx. size: 34" x 21"

This piece has had minimal restoration. Normally we would have removed the frame, but we left this piece inside the frame for stability.

 

Due to the size of this specimen, it will be shipped in an internationally compliant wooden crate.
 
Please contact us for a specific shipping rate. You may opt in for in-store pickup to cut your shipping costs all together and pick up your specimen in person. You can pick up from our store location in Kemmerer, Wyoming, or we deliver to both the Denver Gem & Mineral show in the Fall and the Tucson Gem & Mineral show in the winter. For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us directly.

  

Diplomystus is an extinct genus of freshwater clupeomorph fish distantly related to modern-day extant herrings, alewives, and sardines. The genus was first named and described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1877.

 

Ray-finned Fish - Diplomystus dentatus

Order Ellimmichthyiformes, Family Paraclupeidae

The last known species of the Ellimmichthyiformes order went extinct sometime in the middle Eocene. D. dentatus is a primitive relative of the modern day herring. The genus Diplomystus is also known from fossil deposits in China.

D. dentatus is the 2nd most common fossil fish found from Fossil Lake. Specimens ranging from embryonic size (about 0.7 inches) to full-grown adults (about 26 inches) are common. Smaller-sized specimens are more commonly found in mid-lake than near-shore deposits. This suggests that D. dentatus spawned in open water.

This species' upturned mouth indicates it fed at the surface of Fossil Lake. D. dentatus specimens are commonly found with other fish stuck in their mouths, including other D. dentatus specimens.