Rare 7+ Erismatopterus Levatus Fry Fossil Fish Swim together Laney Shale Wyoming

Description

Here is a rare, outstanding mortality plate of the fossil fish Erismatopterus Levatus, of very young (fry), from the Laney Shale Member, Lake Gosiute deposits, Green River Formation, Wyoming. From the Eocene, about 50 million years ago.
This fossil supports the now-famous news article in the New York Times of May 29, 2019. That describes a school of 259 Erismatopterus swimming as a group, like a school of modern fish. The article is described below.
On the front side, are 6 complete or nearly complete Erismatopterus. There is also part of a tail,  a head (the rest is unseen, buried under another fry).  The reverse side shows another fry, somewhat more mature than the ones on the front. On the edge is the head of a small adult Erismatopterus, with its mouth wide open.
The plate is about 4.5" wide, and weighs 1.45 oz.  The plate is very thin and needs to be treated gently. It is 50 million years old and will hold up a couple million more years as long as you are gentle with it.
The Erismatopterus is a cousin to the Amphiplaga found in Fossil Lake.  The Erismatopterus has fewer fin rays in the dorsal fin compared to the Amphiplaga, and a few other differences, and it is also generally smaller.
Erismatopterus grew to be about 2 inches long on the average, on rare occasion getting as long as 5 inches.
Keep in mind that while new Aphiplaga are being found in Fossil Lake deposits, the area where the Erismatopterus was found is now closed to new digging.  This was from an older collection.
My favorite part of the Erismatopterus fry is the cool eyeball. But the whole fry anatomy, with superb vertebrae, and the beginnings of each fin, are awesome to behold.
This piece is very rare to have this many specimens in such pristine condition, and is definitely museum-grade.
UPDATE: An article in the New York Times, May 29, 2019, shows a photograph of 259 fry Erismatopterus swimming in what appears to possibly be a "school" like modern fish.  The plate, originally from Wyoming as is this one, was seen in Japan in 2016.  The article ("A School of Fish Captured In a Fossil" by Lucas Joel) states:
"In 2016, Nobuaki Mizumoto, a biologist at Arizona State University, was on vacation with his wife when he came across a slab of grayish limestone rock at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Katsuyama, a small city in Japan.
The slab, about 22 inches wide and 15 inches tall and estimated to be about 50 million years old, preserves what looks like a school of fish belonging to an extinct species called Erismatopterus levatus. There are 259 fish in the slab, all of which are under an inch long, and they are all facing the same way.
“It looks like an actual fish shoal,” said Dr. Mizumoto, who studies animal behavior and presented his research in Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Wednesday."
and "..."This species of extinct fish comes from rocks found in Wyoming. Aside from that, little is known about where or how it formed, even though such knowledge could help shed light on how the fish died."
I bring this article up because this is the first real evidence, I believe, of the schooling trait found in prehistoric fish. Also, of the 6 fish in our plate for sale, 5 appear to be going the same way with one slightly in a different direction. (one fish is on the back of the plate). The fry also look like those in the news article, though the matrix there had more color.
COMBINED SHIPPING: We will do our best to combine purchases to save shipping costs. In some cases, that is easy, in some cases not so much. If you buy multiple pieces, and pay for them, we will combine if we can, and refund the shipping difference into your Pay pal account.
We will ship this only to the United States.  We are not responsible if the buyer reships it somewhere else, after receiving it from us. Our responsibility ends at the destination we ship it to.
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Damage:   If your item arrives damaged, please contact us within 24 hours of receiving as we will be happy to resolve any issue.  Buyer must contact us within 24 hours of receipt of item to claim damage in shipping.
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