Lot 916
Rare Fish Aspiration From Green River. Green River, Wyoming is very famous for its 52 million year old fish fossils. Some of the rarest of all the fish fossils found in these limestone quarries are those that capture the moment in time when a fish choked to death trying to swallow another fish whole. This is known as a fish aspiration fossil. Most fossils preserve an animal after they die but the cause of their death is unknown. A fish aspiration captures the exact moment of their death as a fossil. This 5.75 inch long Mioplosus aspirated while swallowing a 1.5 inch long Knightia. A full 1.25 inch of the Knightia is fossilized sticking out of the mouth of the Mioplosus. Mioplosus, an extinct relative of the modern bass, was a voracious predator (several small sharp teeth are preserved in this fossil) that fed on any smaller fish that it could swallow. This rare dramatic fossil is preserved as a 52 million year old snapshot in time on its natural 9X7 inch limestone matrix.
Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,500.
|
| |
| Realized $720 |
