A FISH AND BIRD FOSSIL PLAQUE

A FISH AND BIRD FOSSIL PLAQUE

GREEN RIVER FORMATION, UNITED STATES

Diplomystus dentatus and sp. (Fish: 47 x 17 cm; Bird: 13 x 10 cm; Matrix: 80 x 55 cm), Eocene (approx. 50 million years ago).

An exceptionally rare fossilized bird, together with a fossilized fish, in their natural final resting pose in matrix, taking the shape of a wall mural. Fossilized birds are an extreme rarity, and it is even rarer to find one together in the same plaque with a fish fossil, making this specimen, which has been identified as an ancestor of the parrot, all the more desirable. The two specimens died several thousands of years apart, as evidenced by the various layers of the matrix. The bones of the bird are perfectly preserved, as well as the esophagus, the feet and claws, and the head is seen in profile; we can see a very beautiful light brown mineralization. A superb treasure of North American paleontology. 

LITERATURE:

G. Mayr, ornithological paleontologist of the Seckenberg Museum in Germany, is undertaking the work to identify the species of the bird fossil.