Bear Gulch Limestone

The Bear Gulch Limestone is a fossil site in Montana. The approximately 325 million year old deposits from the Namurium, a time interval of the Lower Carboniferous ( Paleozoic ), give an insight into a world of cartilaginous fishes and early sharks. The fossils are very well preserved. Overall, the fossils were excavated by about 130 species of fish, but also arthropods, sponges, starfish, worms, brachiopods, bryozoans and molluscs. Among fishes are the sharks armed with shoulder spikes falcatus and Stethacanthus and a durophages, suggestive of hard-shelled food bite owning Belantsea from the order of Petalodontiformes. Harpagofututor and kaulquappenähnliche Delphyodontos may, Echinochimaera with certainty relatives of chimaeras. More fish are the coelacanth Allenypterus, the only two genera of Guildayichthyidae found so far, a fish family, with recent African Flösselhechten ( Polypteridae ) is used, the ray-finned eel-shaped Paratarassius and the oldest lamprey Hardi Stella.