When you look at this fish fossil, you see a shapeshifter in the branches of knowledge. This fossil of the Priscacara Serrata was collected from the Green River Formation in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Millions of years ago, the Green River was a thriving ecosystem. Either a large deposit of ash or organic material quickly covered the Green River area during the Eocene Era. This resulted in unusually complete fossils that have amazing detail.

 

 

The fish fossils of the Green River Formation became the commodity of a lucrative market. In 1868, the Green River Formation was discovered by railroad workers who spread the news of the amazing fossils. Once excavation had begun, travelers passing through Kemmerer would visit the excavation sites and buy fossils. Some even traveled just to see the Green River Formation and its fossils. Around the same time, two rising paleontologists, Edward Drinker Cope, and Othniel Charles Marsh were building an increasingly competitive feud, known as the Bone Wars. Their goal was to discover and sell as many fossils as possible and outcompete each other. Once news of the Green River Formation reached Cope and Marsh, they raced to Wyoming to continue their rivalry in the west. As a result, these fossils became a commodity in a ruthless quest for money.  

 

 

Because of their beautiful formation, these fossils were also viewed as artworks. Most of the fossils were bought by tourists and not museums. These buyers, who would have no knowledge of the scientific uses for fossils, only saw how beautiful the fossils were. They would display their fossils like art on their mantels and sometimes incorporate them into their fireplaces. The modern-day artist Ray Troll exclusively uses prehistoric fish in his illustrations, including those from the Green River Formation. Troll and the countless buyers of these fossils display the aesthetic value of them through their use of the fossils and Green River fish. 

 

 

Fossils are also closely connected to mythology. The fossils of the Green River Formation were uncovered too late to become the inspiration for amazing creatures, but fossils in central Asia were not. Thousands of years ago, the people inhabiting central Asia, the Scythians, found fossils they could not explain. The myth of griffins was born out of their curiosity about the animals that left the fossils behind. Over time, stories about griffins traveled to Greece, where they were shared and recorded. Today we still continue the association of mythical beasts with the remains of extinct animals. Othniel Charles Marsh had named one of his discoveries after a North American Sioux mythical creature. The Indricotherium, the largest recorded land mammal, got its name from the Indrik Beast of Russian legends. There are countless more examples of fossils and mythology becoming closely tied.

 

By Courtney Covolo