Natural History
Natural History
A Large Green River Gar Fossil
Lot Closed
December 3, 07:25 PM GMT
Estimate
12,000 - 15,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A Large Green River Gar Fossil
Lepisosteus
Early Eocene (approx. 50 million years ago)
Green River Formation, Wyoming, United States
27½ inches (70 cm) in length: 40 by 21 by 1¾ inches (101 x 53 x 4.5 cm) in matrix. 56 pounds (25.4 kg). Mounted in a deep brown, tropical wenge wood frame.
This microscopically prepared fossil plaque displays the top and left (dorsal & lateral) sides of the skull and body of this extinct gar species. There is outstanding preservation of fins, armored (ganoid) scales, snout, and individual teeth.
Gars are an ancient type of American ray-finned fish, tracing their ancestry all the way to the late Jurassic, a time when dinosaurs dominated the planet. Their elongated snouts are filled with needle-like teeth, and their bodies are heavily armored with serrated scales.
Today there are seven extant species of the order Lepisosteus, inhabiting fresh, brackish, and even marine waters of North and Central America. 50 million years ago, however, gars like the one offered here lived in a series of interconnected freshwater lakes, now known as the Green River Formation. These "fossil lakes" boast some of the best-preserved freshwater fish fossils anywhere in the world, as is exemplified by this beautiful Lepisosteus specimen.