Lot 124
North America, Wyoming, Green River Formation, Eocene Period, ca. 53.5 to 48.5 million years ago. A stone matrix containing a fossilized leaf inlaid with a prehistoric fish fossil. The Diplomystus fish was a separate fossil, the surface cut away to reveal the bone structure and preserved soft tissue. The fish was then inlaid and recessed into the larger matrix next to the leaf to provide context and indicate the aquatic environment where the leaf was submerged after shedding from the tree branch. The stone is meticulously prepared with a wood panel backing and metal hardware to display mounted on a wall! Size: 12" L x 1.25" W x 11" H (30.5 cm x 3.2 cm x 27.9 cm)
The sediment from the Green River Formation was deposited over a 5-million-year span, the layers of flora and fauna may not have fossilized at the same time - but make for interesting composites. The Eocene world was the warmest of the Cenozoic (our current era), with an average mean temperature around 86 F (30 C) (for comparison, the average mean temperature in the last seventy years is around 58 F (14 C). Although the map of the Earth's surface would have been very recognizable to us today, with most of the continents in place and India moving close to its current position, there were basically no ice caps and huge swaths of the landscape were covered with water, including vast inland seas. This impressive aquarium like arrangement creates a rare scene from a prehistoric environment that was drastically different than what the semi-arid Wyoming landscape of today!
Provenance: Private Berthoud, Colorado, USA collection
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#183208
- Condition: Professionally prepared with fish inlaid into the surface. Mounted on a wooden board backing with metal hardware for mounting.
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