Aquatic fungi from the Green River Formation of Wyoming

Tribolites tetrastonyx n. gen. n. sp., and other spores of aquatic fungi are described from a thin layer of very rich oil shale in the Wilkins Peak Member of the Eocene Green River Formation. Together with associated algae, the spores suggest that a fresh-water pond was present on the saline mudflats of Gosiute Lake long enough to accumulate the nearly pure organic ooze that later was compacted to an oil shale layer 2 mm thick.