Rare Bird Down Feather Fossil from Nevada

Description: Generally speaking the only fossils found at this location are two different species of Pliocene fish, Fundulus nevadensis and Gasterosteus doryssus. They are found in the diatomaceous earth quarries surrounding Hazen and Fernley, Nevada. All these fossils were deposited in fresh water lakes.

Other very rare fossils are occasionally found, like this unidentified bird feather. From it appearance I would identify this as a down feather. The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. This positive and negative feather displays excellent preservation and detail of the vanes. The positive impression upon close examination, though faint, shows the complete feather.

This feather will be shipped in a large attractive glass enclosed Riker mount. Please do not handle the paper shale plates, as they are extremely fragile.