9.6" Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Skull - South Dakota

Fossil Oreodont (Merycoidodon) Skull - South Dakota #284203

This is a large 9.6" long skull of an oreodont (Merycoidodon culbertsoni) with natural open mouth preservation. It was collected from the White River Formation (Brule subunit) in Pennington County, South Dakota and would be approximately 30-33 million years old. This skull is over 90% complete.

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

There are several repaired cracks through the bone as it was removed from the ground in multiple pieces. All of the incisors and canine teeth are missing, though one of the canines has a partial root. The molars and premolars are all natural. A portion of the right zygomatic arch and the nasal bones are missing. The left angle of the right mandible is restored and there is a small spot of gap fill restoration along the inferior edge of 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.