12" Mioplosus labracoides | Unrestored Fossil Fish | Wyoming

Mioplosus labracoides, unrestored specimen   Eocene (51.98 Million Years Ago)  Green River Formation, Wyoming, USA  In Stone Fossils Private Quarry   Fossil Fish measures approx. 12" Plate measures approx. 14" x 15.5" Some of the fossil preservation on the skin area under the belly and behind was not adequately replaced by minerals. Sometimes during decomposition, some scales float away before they're fully preserved by the covering of soft silt at the bottom of the lake. This is a perfect example of that- so no restoration is required here.   Order Perciformes Family Latidae - M. labracoides M. labracoides specimens: are characterized by 2 dorsal fins and a forked tail had a long, torpedo-shaped body with streamlined proportions for fast swimming known to reach 20 inches juveniles commonly found in mass mortalities and adults found alone, indicating M. labracoides traveled in schools as a juvenile and became solitary as an adult juvenile and adult specimens often found preserved with smaller fish in the jaw or stomach   Mioplosus labracoides was likely an apex or mesopredator in the Fossil Lake ecosystem, preying on smaller fish species such as Knightia and Diplomystus. Unlike more gregarious species, fossil occurrences of Mioplosus are typically isolated rather than in mass mortality layers, suggesting a more solitary lifestyle.