7.4" Fossil Horse (Mesohippus) Skull - South Dakota

This is a skull of the primitive horse Mesohippus, collected from the Scenic Member of the Brule Formation in South Dakota. It is Oligocene in age, or approximately 32 million years old.

About 75% of this skull is natural and extremely well preserved, considering the majority of the material collected from this site is typically disarticulated and fragmented. The angles of the left and right sides of the mandible have been restored. The incisors and associated bones of the anterior jaw have been restored as well. Additional spots of restoration can be found across the nasal bones and continuing down the maxilla. The upper skull, just posterior to the orbits has undergone some gap fill restoration. Both zygomatic arches have been restored.

Much of the rock that held this specimen together was removed during prep. These free spaces (between left and right mandible, within orbitals, and between premolars and incisors) were later gap filled with false rock to ensure structural integrity of the skull.

Comes with a display stand.