7.3" Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Skull - South Dakota

Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Skull - South Dakota #285131

This is a 7.3" long skull of an oreodont (Merycoidodon culbertsoni), collected from the White River Formation (Brule subunit) in South Dakota and would be approximately 30-33 million years old. A neat addition to this skull is the preserved atlas vertebra seen at the posterior end of the skull. Typically the vertebrae become disarticulated and lost over the years. This skull is approximately 95% complete.

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

While there are several repaired cracks through the specimen, none of the bone has been restored. All of the teeth are natural (non-composites), though many of the teeth are missing. The left zygomatic arch is intact and the right zygomatic and orbital are incomplete. There is a large repaired crack with some missing bone through the left side of the mandible.

Artist's reconstruction of Merycoidodon. By Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) Creative Commons License

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.

SPECIES

Merycoidodon culbertsoni

AGE

Oligocene (30 - 33 Million Years)