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Rare Fossil Donated To Fossil Butte National Monument

Published Date

September 7, 2016

Fossil Butte curator Arvid Aase with Philip Frazier/NPS

It's not always that much attention is paid to the donation of a 30-million-year-old, or older, rock. But when that rock contains the fossilied remains of a bowfin fish, Cyclurus gurleyi, well, it stands out.

To help Fossil Butte National Monument in southwestern Wyoming celebrate the National Park Service's centennial, Louisiana resident Philip Frazier donated the fossilized remains of the bowfin to the park.

Two years ago, Frazier found a covered fish identified as Mioplosus labracoides in a private fossil quarry northwest of Kemmerer, Wyoming. In the spring of 2016 he decided to prepare the fossil and realized it did not look like a Mioplosus. As preparation continued, it became apparent the fossil was a bowfin, related to Amia calva, a freshwater fish which lives in the Eastern United States today.

Frazier at that point stopped preparing the fish before the delicate fin tips and fragile bones were fully prepared for fear of damaging the fossil. Shortly afterward he returned to Wyoming and met Arvid Aase, the national monument's curator. About a month passed when Aase received an e-mail from Frazier, who was interested in donating the fossil to the monument.

At the time of the donation, a careful examination of the specimen, verified by tail fin ray counts, determined the amiid to be Cyclurus gurleyi, the rarer of the two amiid species found in Fossil Lake.

The specimen is a welcome addition to the monument's permanent museum collection; available for use in exhibits and paleontological research.

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