A LABORATORY EXERCISE UTILIZING EOCENE FISH FOSSILS FROM THE GREEN RIVER FORMATION

A laboratory exercise was designed for undergraduate paleontology students based on fish fossils from the Eocene Green River Formation. The exercise provides the opportunity for students to not only learn about a classic example of excellent fish fossil preservation but also to examine, through actual hand specimens, the morphologic characteristics of some of the most common genera from the site. The exercise includes background information (Green River Formation and fish morphology) as well as specimen work with five genera of fish (Knightia, Diplomystus, Mioplosus, Priscacara, and Amphiplaga) that were each important members of the Eocene Green River intermountain lake ecosystem. The specimen portion of the exercise focuses on Knightia and Diplomystus because these are two of the most common genera of fish at the site and they are the most easily and inexpensively obtained specimens. The nine sections of the exercise are short and self-contained so instructors can easily modify the exercise for other courses or groups of students.