Green River Formation Fossils

The Green River Formation is one of the United States foremost Lagerstätte fossil sites. It is a huge Eocene age formation has exposures in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The site is most famous for its fish fossils, where two different layers in particular yield abundant fossils that exhibit distinct differences: 1) the so-called split fish layer is highly laminated and yields fossils with fine preservation, particularly of skeletons, and, 2) the so called 18 inch layer, an unlaminated layer that often yield fossils with remarkable soft tissue preservation, albeit they are extremely hard to prepare. The spans some 5 million years, from about 53.5 to 48.5 million years ago. One dealer I spke with at the 2014 Tucson Fossil Show told me that he had a barn with more than 80,000 fish fossils stored, so I don't think there will be a shortage any time soon.

Fossils of the Green River Formation Eocene Lagerstätte:

Heliobatis radians Stingray Fish Fossil
Populus willmattae
Beilschmiedia Plant Fossil
Heliobatis radians Stingray Fish Fossil
Order Chondrichthyes Order Rajiformes, Family Dasayatidaes
Fossil Lake, Kemmerer, Wyoming
Family Osteoglossidae
Fossil Lake, Kemmerer, Wyoming
Populus willmattae (Popular) Fossil Leaf
Family Salicaceae
Uintah County, Utah
Beilschmiedia eocenica (Laural) Plant Fossil
Family Lauraceae
Uintah County, Utah
Ichneumonoidea Fossil Parasitic Wasp 
Willow Fossil Leaf
Charadriiformes Shore Bird Tracks
Pseudosalix handleyi Fossil Leaf
Ichneumonoidea Fossil Parasitic Wasp
Order Hymenoptera
Family Ichneumonoidea
Uintah County, Utah
Salix cockerelli (Willow)
Family Salicaceae
Uintah County, Utah
Charadriiformes Shore Bird Tracks
Green River Shale, Wasatch County, Utah
Pseudosalix handleyi Fossil Leaf
Green River Formation
Bonanza, Utah
Weevil Insect Fossil from Grren River Formation
     
Weevil Insect Fossil
Eocene
Order Coleoptera, Family Curculionidae
Green River Formation
Uintah, Utah
     

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