4.7" Pristine Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Skull - South Dakota

Pristine Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Skull - South Dakota #269604

This is an incredibly well preserved, 4.7" long skull of an oreodont (Miniochoerus gracilis). It was collected from the Brule Formation in Pennington County, South Dakota and would be approximately 30-35 million years old. Unlike most skulls on the market, this skull is restoration free and has undergone little to no compression over the millions of years within the ground. A truly amazing oreodont skull!

It is accompanied by an acrylic display stand to assist with preferred presentation.

The mandible is missing a section of bone along the angle of the left and right side. Each zygomatic arch is missing a small section of bone and the upper molars along the left side of the maxilla are chipped/broken in spots. The left zygomatic has one repaired crack.

Miniochoerus was a genus of oreodont that was smaller in size and had undersized canine teeth in comparison to Merycoidodon and Leptauchenia.

Oreodonts were an extinct mammal most closely related to camels and pigs. They have no extant close relatives. 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.

SPECIES

Miniochoerus gracilis

AGE

Oligocene (30 - 35 Million Years)