Re: Fish Heads

David Campbell (bivalve@mailserv0.isis.unc.edu)
Tue, 20 Jan 1998 19:46:18 -0400

>Interesting. The fish fossils I bought from the Nature Company show not
>only the bones, but also the body and fins. These fish were apparently
>buried intact, not just the bones. Do you know of any modern analogs?

The rays of the fins are thin bone. The Green River fish I've seen have
the entire skeleton (i.e., including very delicate bones), sometimes with
scales, but no obvious soft tissue preservation apart from vague stains.
I don't remeber full details, but there have been some studies done
recently on experimental fossilization-soft tissue can be mineralized
relatively easily.

David C.