9.1" Colorful, Inflated Fossil Tortoise (Stylemys) - South Dakota

Colorful, Inflated Fossil Tortoise (Stylemys) - South Dakota #301888

This is a 9.1" long shell (carapace and plastron) of an Oligocene-aged tortoise (Stylemys nebrascensis) from the White River Formation in the Badlands of South Dakota. It is nicely inflated with gorgeous red-orange preservation. A partial limb bone can be seen exposed from the rock.

The shell is 98% complete. There are gap filled cracks in a couple areas and restoration to one of the anterior marginal scutes. Additional gap fill restoration can be found along the posterior end of the carapace as a result of crushing by geologic forces. Overall this specimen is in great condition!

Stylemys ("pillar turtle") is the first fossil genus of dry land tortoise discovered in the United States. They lived in temperate to subtropical areas of North America, Europe, and Asia.

These extinct tortoises had primitive jaw muscles, unlike today's tortoises that also display the os transiliens bone, and would have been herbivorous. While Stylemys species did exhibit the same neck structure as modern tortoises, the forelimbs weren't ideal for burrowing.

SPECIES

Stylemys nebrascensis

AGE

Oligocene (~31-35 Million Years)