Photo: National Park Service, Fossil Butte National Monument
- Order
- Lepisosteiformes
- Family
- Lepisosteidae
- Size
- About 80.5 cm / 31.7 in
A long-snouted Fossil Lake gar with needle-like teeth and extra tail fin rays.
Seven living gar species are found in freshwaters of North America, Central America, and Cuba. Of the four Fossil Lake gar species, all but one are very similar to modern gars.
Lepisosteus bemisi has a long snout with needle-like teeth. It has 13–14 tail fin rays as opposed to the 12 found in the other gar species.
Outside of the Fossil Butte Member, gar scales are much more common fossils than complete skeletons. These tough scales offer significant protection from would-be predators. Modern gar species often migrate up rivers to spawn — a possible explanation for the lack of juvenile gar fossils found in the FBM.
Species text: National Park Service, Fossil Butte National Monument — Fossil Fish Species.