68 Inch Ferocious Gar Debuts at the 2026 Colorado Mineral & Fossil Fall Show By Rachel Ford

68 Inch Ferocious Gar Debuts at the 2026 Colorado Mineral & Fossil Fall Show 
By Rachel Ford

An Atractosteus atrox found in 2025 by Beth and Alec Hovagim.

​    If you love fossils, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to meet the Tynskys at this year’s Colorado Mineral & Fossil Fall Show. Tynsky’s Fossils, Inc. is in attendance at the show annually, offering the finest fossils from the Wyoming Green River Formation. The family's roots in fossil collecting stretch back to the 1960s, when Sylvester "Switz" Tynsky and his sons began quarrying near Kemmerer, Wyoming, a legacy that has since spanned more than six decades and multiple generations, including a discovery of the first complete Eohippus, or "Dawn Horse," now on permanent display at the Smithsonian. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting the Tynskys or learning about their multi-generational small business, the show will be an amazing opportunity to do just that.

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This year, the Tynskys will be debuting a very special find: an Atractosteus atrox found in 2025 at their quarry in Wyoming. This specimen was recovered by share diggers Beth and Alec Hovagim, who dig alongside the Tynskys in exchange for a share of what they find. Atractosteus atrox, the "ferocious gar," is an extinct species of gar from the Early Eocene era and is closely related to the modern Alligator Gar. This species is the largest and rarest fossil lake gar found in the Green River Formation. This particular find is 68" (5’8”) long with an 18" skull; in life it likely weighed between 60-70 lbs.
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The discovery itself was a moment of pure excitement. Beth, frustrated with the rock she was digging, decided to split an adjacent piece instead. She noticed a series of parallel lines of black fossil but did not recognize what she was looking at. She asked her husband and fellow share digger, Alec, for his opinion, and neither of them could identify the lines, so Alec suggested she split the rock further. That next split revealed diamond-shaped scales, and they immediately knew they had found a gar. The two were thrilled, though they had no idea yet just how big their find really was. It was not until Jim, Rob, and Kodi Tynsky examined the fossil and recognized its potential size, with Jim estimating it could be six feet long and the largest fish ever found from their quarry, that the full magnitude of the discovery set in, and everyone present cheered.

The Atractosteus atrox before it was “prepped out.”

Echmatemys sp. recovered from Tynsky’s Fossil Quarry.

After 7 months of prep work, the Tynskys are ready to share this remarkable gar with attendees. Alongside it, they will also have plenty of other amazing specimens on hand, including a recently recovered baby Echmatemys sp., a species of fossil turtle belonging to the family Geoemydidae, the same family that includes modern pond and river turtles.

Come see the Tynskys and their incredible finds at the Colorado Mineral & Fossil Fall Show, running September 9 through 14, 2026, at the Delta Hotels Denver Thornton, 10 E. 120th Ave, Northglenn, Colorado. The show runs daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closes at 5 p.m. on the final day, September 14, 2026. The show is family-friendly and offers free admission and free parking; both wholesale and retail buyers are welcome. Tynsky’s Fossil Fish, Inc. can be found in the Atrium of the Delta Hotel in space A-5.

For those who want more than a one-time visit, Tynsky's also offers a hands-on quarry experience at their site near Kemmerer, Wyoming, where visitors can dig their own fossils and learn directly from a family with more than six decades of expertise in the Green River Formation.

Contact the Tynskys:
https://tynskysfossils.com/
@tynskys_fossils_inc 
https://www.facebook.com/robnkodi.tynsky 
307.413.0820 • 801.462.6583