‘It’s a history lesson’: fossil fish up to 16m years old found perfectly preserved in central NSW

Fossils retain microscopic structural features including stomach contents and provide first detailed evidence in Australia for fish called Osmeriformes

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Fossil fish so exquisitely preserved that scientists have been able to reconstruct their final days from up to 16m years ago have been discovered in central New South Wales.

Several fossils of small freshwater fish, embedded in an iron-rich mineral called goethite at the McGraths Flat fossil site, have retained microscopic structural features including their stomach contents and the outlines of cells that determine colour.