Ultra Rare Knightia as Predator Aspiration Fish Fossil Lake Wyoming Wy COA 6231 for Sale

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Ultra Rare Knightia as Predator Aspiration Fish Fossil Lake Wyoming Wy COA 6231 For Sale

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Ultra Rare Knightia as Predator Aspiration Fish Fossil Lake Wyoming Wy COA 6231:
$1295.00

Welcome to Pioneer Fossils!
A Certificate of Authenticity, which has a color photo on it of the exact item you purchased, will accompany the specimen. Plus a free small display stand.
Here is something you don\'t see every day. In fact, we have dug fossil fish since 1999 and this is the first one of these we have seen. It is from the world-famous fossil beds of Fossil Lake, Green River Formation, Wyoming. From the Eocene, 52 million years go.
Aspiration plates show where a fish gets choked trying to swallow another fish. The fish gets lodged in the mouth, preventing oxygen-rich water from entering. Since the fish is swallowed head-first, it is almost impossible for the predator to spit it out, and it dies. Aspiration plates are rare from Fossil Lake, and highly sought after.
What makes this one a \"one-in-a-million\" find? With the vast majority of Fossil Lake aspiration plates, the predator is either a Mioplosus or a Diplomystus. But in this, extremely rare case, we have a small adult Knightia eating a smaller fish, likely a fry of some kind.
We hear all the time that Knightias never ate much besides bugs and microscopic plants and animals. However, according to Lance Grande, one of the top paleontologists in the world studying Fossil Lake ancient life, that was not always the case. In his masterful book, \"Paleontology of the Green River Formation, With a Review of the Fish Fawna\" (1984), he writes on page 85:
\"Knightia and Gosiutichthys* seem to have been primary to secondary consumers, probably feeding on algae, diatoms, ostracods, insects, and, rarely, smaller fish.\" -p.85.
*- (a cousin of Knightia from Lake Gosiute)
That the Knightia is feeding on the smaller fish is clear. Look at the position and direction of the fry, going right into the mouth of the Knightia. Also look at the very open Knightia mouth, especially the lower jaw, propped wide open to make room for the prey.
The predator Knightia is about 1.6 inches (40.6 mm.). The predator and prey fish total about 2.1 inches (53.3 mm.). The other Knightia on the plate is about 1.75 inches (44.4 mm.). The plate is about 4\" by 3.35\", and it weighs 7.3 oz.
Over the years, we have seen many aspiration plates where the Knightia was the victim. Here, in one extremely rare instance, it was the predator. Which is why we are putting a premium on the price. You can find aspirations with Diplomystus and Mioplosus as hunters, but good luck finding another Knightia hunter
On second thought, maybe this Knightia, in the end, was a victim, too, of its own appetite.