Natural History - Amber with Insect Inclusions

The rectangular matrix containing a large Knightia alta sp. specimen. 185 grams, 14.5 cm



From Green River Formation, Wyoming, USA. Ex Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

In southwest Wyoming (and parts of Colorado and Utah) in the Green River Formation are found some of the world's most outstanding specimens of fossil fish. The Green River system was composed of three lakes: Lake Ulinta, Lake Gosiute and Fossil Lake. These Eocene lakes lay in a series of intermountain basins formed by geological events that uplifted the Rocky Mountains during the early Tertiary time. The climate was much different from the desert-like climate of this area today. Both the fauna (crocodiles, alligators, boa constrictors and some subtropical fish families) and the flora (such as large palm trees) indicate a climate much like that found along the Gulf Coast today. Large amounts of ash found in the sediments indicate that volcanoes were particularly active at this time.

Comprising three sandstone matrices with Mosasaur Prognathodon sp. teeth and bone fragments, including fossil fish and other remains. 419 grams total, 64-92 mm



From the phosphate mine region, Khouribga, Morocco, North Africa. Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

Mosasaurs (from the Greek for 'lizard') were aquatic dinosaurs which probably gave birth to live young. The Mosasaur is an extinct, large dinosaur-like marine reptile with a snake-like body, long snout and paddle-like limbs. Found worldwide, they competed with other well-known sea predators of the Late Cretaceous, such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, for food, existing primarily on a diet of ammonoids, cuttlefish and fish.

On a rectangular matrix. 292 grams, 15.7 cm



From Wyoming (Green River Formation), USA. From an old Bristol, UK, collection.

Seasonally some 58 million years ago, in the Green River region of Wyoming, torrential rains fell in the mountains. They flowed down the mountain sides, forming wide shallow lakes in the valley below. During the dry season, these lakes would dry up due to evaporation (as happens in certain parts of Africa today). Millions of fish died in this short period of time. This climatic cycle happened over a 20-thousand-year period. Layer upon layer of mud entombed all these fish. At a much later date, volcanic activity uplifted this area to expose the fossils.