LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 January Signature Natural History #5000  / 

48373

LARGE AND RARE FOSSIL GAR FISH

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:8,250.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
LARGE AND RARE FOSSIL GAR FISH
<B>LARGE AND RARE FOSSIL GAR FISH </B></I><BR> <I>Lepisosteus simplex, Knightia sp.<BR>Eocene<BR>Green River Formation, Wyoming</B></I><BR>The Green River gar fish is one of the very rarest species in the abundant fossil record of this area, and this superb fossil fish plate has as its centerpiece a particularly large example - 24½ inches in length. It was a slender eel-like creature with an elongated toothy snout and a body encased with tightly layered, diamond-shaped armor-like scales. The present specimen is extremely well preserved and is adorned with most of these scales intact. The only restoration to this outstanding fossil gar is about 2 ½ inches on the front tip of the snout and a few of the fin edges which is quite normal.<BR>The garfish was mostly found in freshwater locations, probably basking near the surface and, unusually, often breathing the atmospheric air. Flitting around the fossil gar on this 48 x 30 inch wood-framed matrix plate are thirteen well-presented examples of the smaller and more common <I>Knightia</B></I>, a relative of the modern herring, and each of the specimens displays the usual high-standard of preparation and preservation that one would expect from a fossil plate from this region.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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