Bechleja rostrata
Green River Formation
Middle Eocene
Lincoln County, Wyoming

Here is a splendid example of the fresh water shrimp found in the Green River Formation. These shrimp are found in the same facies as the fossil crawfish Procambarus. This example has superb detail of the legs and antennae. The body length is about 5 cm.
Bechleja is an extinct genus of the living family Palaemonidae. Their living relatives are found today in ecologically divers environments with some species in freshwater and some in marine habitats. They are true shrimp. Palaemonids are mainly carnivores that eat small invertebrates such as insect larvae and ostracods which were abundant in the ancient lakes. B. rostrata was certainly a good food source for predatory inhabitants of Fossil Lake.