Green River Fish Fossils

The Green River formation of southern Utah and southwestern Wyoming, that contains fossilized fish, along with rays and numerous other fossils. At fossilicous.com, we have many beautiful examples of these delicate fossil remains in a variety of price-ranges to suit your budget.

The Knightia fish fossils come from Southwest Wyoming near Kemmerer, where there are several fossil quarries.They are from the Green River Formation which was laid down during the Eocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era. They are about 50 million years old. At that time Wyoming was in a tropical setting with several very large lakes.

Many fossils have been found in the Green River Formation from that time, including fish, mammals, plants, birds, crocodiles, insects, and other kinds of animals.

It was a time of high volcanic activity. The ash from these volcanoes are the reason for both mass mortalities and the preservation of fossils. The volcanoes spewed huge amounts of volcanic ash into the sky. As it settled back to earth it poisoned the lakes killing many animals at once. The animals fell to the bottom of the lake and were covered by the ash. The fine grain of of the settlements made for excellent preservation.