Buried beneath the rocky sedimentary layers of southwest Wyoming’s landscape are the fossils and bone fragments of past ecosystems. Previously a quiet lake during the Cenozoic period 52 million years ago, the lush landscape was home to a variety of life forms. While fish make up a majority of fossils found here there have been other discoveries such as crocodilian ancestors, fresh water stingrays, giant soft-shelled turtles, paleobirds, mammalian creatures and plant life. Just about any organic material that succumbed to the depths of the salty oxygen deprived bottom waters of the vast lake became well preserved. This offers us a very interesting look into the past natural world.
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