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This is a re-post of a topic I started late this last summer, but got lost during the August forum migration. Late in July I took a trip with a few friends out to the American Fossil Quarry and Fossil Butte National Monument to hunt for fossils out of the lower Eocene Green River Formation. The Green River Formation is a lagerstatte which is perhaps the best site in the world for articulated fossil fish, many of which also display varying degrees of soft tissue preservation. Fossils from this locality are mined commercially and are ubiquitous on the fossil market. Living in Denver, the Green River Formation is only a few hours away by car and I've always wanted to plan a trip out there to collect it, which is very easy to do and fairly cost-effective thanks to numerous pay-to-dig quarries where you get to keep essentially everything you find. I decided to plan a dig at American Fossil Quarry, which is one of the more popular quarries. I managed to convince two of my friends to come with me, and we spent a day and a half (12 hours total) at the quarry while camping at the nearby Lake Viva Naughton. It was my two friends' first times ever hunting for fossils, and they both report that their expectations were far exceeded at the quarry! There's a very good chance this trip was the start of the making of two new fossil fanatics. We had a blast out in the quarry, with the thrill of discovery doing plenty to stave off the oppressive sun and desiccating dust. We also made sure to visit some of the fossil shops located in Kemmerer and spent some time at the museum in the visitor's center of Fossil Butte National Monument, which is fantastically well put together and was so awesome to see. Each of us found plenty of treasures, including lots of Knightia and Diplomystus fish as well as coprolites (fish, stingray, and turtle), scales, occasional plant material, and even a few rarer fish. Here's some pictures from our adventure: Myself posing with a very nicely preserved Knightia eocena. My two friends hard at work splitting shale for ancient treasures. A few of my day one finds on my shelf. A very nice partial Priscacara found by one of my friends. A small stingray with associated Knightia found by a different participant the first day we were there. A mostly complete Amphiplaga brachyptera (one of the rarer fish) found by me, associated with a Knighta alta. Only the tail and part of the dorsal fin is missing, the rest of the fish is intact! Easily my prettiest fish: An absolutely perfect Diplomystus dentatus found by me the second day. One of the displays at the visitor's center of Fossil Butte National Monument. Cheers, and thanks for reading!

Here is a large partial fish I found a few weeks ago. Not sure, but suspecting maybe Phareodus?? Any thoughts? Thanks, Mike

Hi, I've seen several sellers who labeled their Oreodont fossils as Leptauchenia. So I wondered are they the same thing or two different animals altogether? Thanks.