9 - FOSSIL FISH PLAQUE

FOSSIL FISH PLAQUE GREEN RIVER FORMATION, USA, LOWER EOCENE PERIOD, 50 MILLION YEARS B.P. a pair of large fish specimens within in a limestone matrix, raised on a bespoke mount 77cm x 71cm Provenance: Private collection, England The present specimen was excavated from the Green River Formation, located predominantly in present day Wyoming. Today, the landscape is dry and windswept, with open plains and sparse vegetation stretching across an exposed terrain of layered limestone and shale that records ancient lake environments. However, during the early Eocene, around 50 million years ago, this region was not arid but subtropical, with broad freshwater lakes surrounded by lush vegetation. The climate was warm and humid, supporting crocodiles, early mammals, insects, fish and dense forests along the lake margins, including palms such as Sabalites, whose fronds are preserved in exceptional detail within the fine sediments, contributing to a serene depiction of this ancient environment.