Superb Green River Formation Dragonfly Insect Fossil

The Green River Formation deposits of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah are best known for their immaculately-preserved fish, but other examples are known as well, as this specimen attests. This fine piece displays an example of the Draogonflies, a relatively rarely-seen group of insects in the Green River Formation. The suborder Anisoptera derives its name from the fact the fore and hind wings of dragonflies have a different shape. The Odonata and its precursors have been around since the Carboniferous, and used their large eyes to hunt for their prey. This one seems more robust than the damselfly recently posted, but the fact that it is preserved in ventral aspect makes it difficult to be sure; the eyes of a dragonfly touch at the top of the head, while those of a damselfly typically do not. Whatever the case, this is a highly-detailed example of a rarely-offered taxon of the “pursuit planes” of the Eocene.