4.3" Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Jaw - South Dakota

Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Jaw - South Dakota #198198

This is a 4.3" long partial skull of Merycoidodon culbertsoni, an Oreodont. It was collected from the the Brule Formation in South Dakota and would be approximately 30-34 million years old. The bone preservation is amazing with visible sutures and nerve/blood vessel pathways still present. The molars and most of the premolars remained intact, along with one of the canine teeth. Neither the mandible nor the posterior portion of the skull were recovered.

Oreodonts are an extinct mammal most closely related to camels and pigs. They have no close relatives living today. They were herbivorous, with short faces and fang-like canine teeth. About the size of a sheep, they roamed the plains of North America in huge numbers during the Oligocene period.