New horse ancestor with articulated toes

[Dilopho]

This is 'Olive' the newly found ancestor of horses, with toes! Read this article for more information: https://www.fossilera.com/blog/new-fossil-discovery-olive-a-primitive-horse-ancestor-from-the-green-river-formation

[CityRaptor]

One can say that the fish found on the same plate is in good hands.

[Dilopho]

One can say that the fish found on the same plate is in good hands.

Is that a double pun? Because, you know, the horse has 'hands'...

[SBell]

So it's for sale then? Because I notice that this isn't a journal article, but instead a store blog. Where they are all about the collector or someone looking for a special gift.

Which is too bad, because it then has the (likely) potential to be lost to science.

[Halichoeres]

So it's for sale then? Because I notice that this isn't a journal article, but instead a store blog. Where they are all about the collector or someone looking for a special gift.

Which is too bad, because it then has the (likely) potential to be lost to science.

A lot of the most spectacular Green River stuff goes to private collectors. Sometimes they get in touch with scientists so they can get some photos, things like that, and my understanding is that the money they generate helps keep the land--much of which is private--open for scientists. Some of my friends are actually digging out there right now. It isn't ideal, but it's the trade-off paleontologists make in a culture that values money over knowledge.

On the upside, while this is an exceptional specimen, there are other exemplars of this species (Protorohippus venticolum) in museums.