Geologist Goes Fishing For Fossils in Southwest Wyoming?

[@shawnwillsey]

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[@gilbertclement5427]

I happen to manage the Quarry just over the hill from Warfield Safari.

[@robmcelwee389]

Any leaf quarries? Not interested in fish.

[@gilbertclement5427]

@@robmcelwee389 plants are very rare here. There are plants but they are not going to be the major finds.

[@robmcelwee389]

@@gilbertclement5427 really? Green River leaves are almost as famous as the fish. I used to own quite a few.

[@gilbertclement5427]

@@robmcelwee389 as I said, plants are rare in the quarry I manage. I did not say they could not be found. However they are not found every day.

[@daveanderson4000]

My wife I went to the same quarry on July 2nd of this year and it was a wonderful experience. Because of the altitude it wasn't too hot. We found dozens of fossil's in the time we were there (5 hours). The staff were genuinely helpful. You are right however, it was addictive (like gambling) and we didn't want to stop!

[@richardkelso9478]

Thanks for this. I grew up in Cheyenne and took geology at the University of Wyoming at the end of Dr. Knight’s tenure. Great school and always happy to see Wyoming. BTW “Kemmerer” is pronounced KEM-er and was the site of the first store opened by John Cash (J. C.) Penney.

[@mikewatson4644]

Really interesting. I lived in Wyoming until I went to college and never heard of this. I will have to add this to my bucket list Thanks for bringing us along.

[@nothanks3236]

You're really giving me my next vacation idea here. I'll just head out to Wyoming and split rocks for a week lol.

[@glenncourtney4876]

I bought my teenage daughter one of those fish from Hat Six Truck Stop in Evansville WY in 2019 when I was working in the oilfields. She named it Bubbles and kept it by her fish tank that held her live goldfish, the goldfish are gone now but Bubbles is still in her room. Last year we did the whole MT Dinosaur Trail for our vacation, she wants to do Dinosaur National Monument which might happen next year.

[@valoriel4464]

Thx, Prof, for another excellent geo-ed adventure. ✌🏻

[@rickmessina5396]

I stopped by a few years ago to look for fossils after taking a break from gold prospecting in western Wyoming. It is super fun to do…..

[@Fire-Queen]

Great fossil fishing! I love geology, and we usually have sea creatures in the Netherlands. Came for the magma, stayed and subscribed for the fossils. Also appreciate the shorter format, easily digestible 😊✅👍🏼

[@EatDrinkBeMerry]

My visit in 2023 was so cool! Total of 20 hours between three days. Brought home so many I’m still working through them on/off to this day.

[@Ajaxrexx]

Thanks Shawn for making videos in SW Wyoming. The geologic history in the area is really amazing. Check out Boars Tusk if you ever get a chance.

[@shawnwillsey]

Ha ha. That video is loaded and in the queue. Look for it next week.

[@Nrc3neallyo]

You-dig fossil quarry adventures, PLUS the geologic context of the quarry as you presented, is EXACTLY the stuff Im rabid for! I told you that youre an important educator to my son and self, but also we will be field-tripping to some of your film locations. Thanks for all you do

[@remorrey]

Thanks Shawn. Excellent review.

[@shawnwillsey]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@realityjunky]

I've still got the one I carved out during field camp, decades ago. Thanks for the happy reminder!

[@wesdonze2014]

Thanks for showing this - looks like an interesting formation

[@Seagull1469]

When I lived in Southern Maryland and I LOVED going through the Calvert Cliffs and collecting Miocene fossils. I have quite a bit of shells, sharks teeth, bones, crustaceans and a variety of other random items found in the sea. I would spend all day just searching for stuff, and I couldn't be happier.

[@Mistydazzle]

That Crazy Eocene! Really fascinating - thank you for showing & educating us about the formation of these beds & fossils.

[@remorrey]

This was a nice break from the Iceland events. I'm definitely going to make this a Christmas gift to my grandchildren.

[@RobertB168]

I grew up with old mesozoic quarries all round but they were getting filled in, and in the uk you really need easy access to seashores to find the best specimens.

[@AEROPYLOT]

Absolutely love the use of the paleogeographic maps.

[@swatchgirl2]

Very interesting, thank you for the tour!

[@corrinneloudon525]

Thank you so much for this, Shawn. Lincolnshire, UK, is mostly flat fenland and nowhere near as much fun 😊

[@davidsabbagh6815]

But you have a chance to find artifacts from many different periods in human history!!

[@EddieSchirmer]

haha, i was there in September! we got a good 30-40 specimens LOL

[@davec9244]

nice thank you ALL stay safe

[@hestheMaster]

Little freshwater species of fish that swam in large schools. There were two other larger species of fish that ate them. But those were found only in the areas where the larger two lakes once were so far.

[@brendanacord]

Very cool! As I was watching I was thinking "this would be a great place to take the kids" and there at the end saw one kid with his family, looks really fun!

[@hopegreer3357]

Amazing!! Now i want to move out west away from Tennessee. Just to ceack open rocks. Wonderful video I'm slowly working thru your playlists.

[@flakesinyershoe8137]

Green river chert is one of my favorite lithic materials. Wyoming in general is packed with beautiful cryptocrystalline quartz.

[@LouinVB]

Excellent video! Hunting for fossil fish is on my bucket list & I look forward to the day I can come here & spend a few daze!

[@johnmoyer9259]

Take into account the heat. Much better to do in mild weather.

[@Anne5440_]

How fun! My family would never be go to such places but I wanted to do this. I did have one taste of doing fossil hunting. In Ronald Washington, near Roselyn, there are slag piles from the old coal mines. In those you can find fossil leaves. I still have one fossil rock I collected at age 13 allong the Potomac River in VA. It is small marine fossils. I don't even know what type. I'm 75 now and remember the day I found it.

[@Once-ler1972]

Dang! Didn’t even mention the Sevier Orogeny making the Wyoming Range and making most of the thrust fault ranges from Mexico to BC. PS only the first “er” is pronounced in Kemmerer, the second “er” is silent.

[@3xHermes]

Great Video, I like the added Context 👍

[@nrivera4380]

Common fish fossils in that area include those of Knightia eocaena and alta (herrings), Priscacara (perch), Diplomystus (mostly like herring and sardines), Lepisosteus (gar), and many more less common.

[@fully_retractable]

Did the green river cut through the flaming gorge range from water draining from the uplift?

[@alicemiller3139]

Shawn, I’ve seen several KZbin channels showing these fossils, but yours explained how the fossils formed. Question to you is where did the fresh water fish come from? The map you showed looked like there weren’t inlets. Maybe there were since no one really knows how many lakes existed, us I am curious about how the fish got there. Thanks!

[@RobertB168]

It would be interesting to hear more about the sedimentology. There are clearly masses of intact vertebrate fossils, so not only were currents not spreading the bones around, nothing was chewing them all up either. The insect fossils show that chitin wasn't always breaking down fully, so maybe fairly bad conditions for life on the bottom. But there was a thriving population of fish which look pelagic.

[@garrettmillsap]

I wish I could find fossils like that lol. on the oregon coast we mostly find fossilized clams and scallops with the rare crab or bone.

[@mikekilian5403]

Very cool!

[@StereoSpace]

Very cool. I'd love to do that.

[@primateinterfacetechnologi6220]

Not just a few either: tons of them... That's totally cool. Peace.

[@candui-7]

Fossil Fever! Proof that no one is immune from addiction! Those people out there are digging new rock bottoms for themselves.

[@Josh-Hunt]

What is the url for the site mentioned

[@shawnwillsey]

www.fossilsafari.com/

[@TerryBollinger]

Wow, I so want to try this! But it's a bit of a hike from eastern Virginia, alas! :(

[@56NeilWatson]

Are there particular layers that are richer or do th fossils run through all the layers?

[@keithrosenberg5486]

What are the youngest fossils in rocks that can be found?

[@guiart4728]

What was the latitude of the quarry in the Eocene?

[@candui-7]

Not to detract from Shawn's amazing work but check Nick's Crazy Eocene series for everything you could possibly want to know about the Eocene Pac NW.

[@guiart4728]

@@candui-7 Nick is amazing. Really enjoying his current A to Z series!

[@candui-7]

@@guiart4728 We are lucky to be blessed with teachers like Shawn, Nick, Et Al. Check out Geoffrey Drumm on the function(s) of the megalithic structures if you want to add some history to to your geology and have your brains torn out out and reinstalled.

[@davidk7324]

Neat.

[@lauram9478]

❤

[@Riverguide33]

👍

[@skyedog24]

🐠fossils 👍👍

[@jackprier7727]

Too good, and fascinating, these bone-fishes. I have given a couple as pets to people who don't take care of pets-

[@runninonempty820]

Why do some fish swim in saltwater? Because if they swam in pepper water they would sneeze.

[@steveflor9942]

7,000 ft up and has its original horizontality. hmmmm

[@erickborling1302]

Magmatism = volcanism. (?)

[@jerryharder1381]

I love to see the fossil record opened like a book as it were and ooh and aah though i I have never heard a geologist speak in anything but uncertainties or assumptions concerning the origins and the timing of geologic events. Mountains and mountains of pure evidence cover the world over a kilometer thick, but having no real consensus leads me to think that your teaching is the outflow of evolutionary indoctrination and leads to a world view and covers up the truth whenever necessary. The facts must always be interpreted, they never speak for themselves. Think, the fossil record is a record of the creator's world wide judgement on a perverted evil wicked hateful murderous world who kill innocent babies like they are just fluff!

[@Ajaxrexx]

I think this is the fish you are looking for en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightia