9.8" Titanothere (Megacerops) Upper Jaw - South Dakota

Titanothere (Megacerops) Upper Jaw - South Dakota #92715

This is a 9.8" long upper jaw of a massive Titanothere, a Rhinoceros-looking animal that lived during the Late Eocene. It was collected from the Eocene aged Chadron Formation of South Dakota. There are four molars present in the jaw. Upper jaws tend to be much more desirable among collectors than the lower jaws because the molars are much wider and just generally more massive.

Restoration is pretty minimal on this jaw. Just some minor touchups to the roots of the teeth and crack fill in the jaw.

Artist's reconstruction of a Titanothere. By Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com)

Titanotheres were a massive mammal that lived during the Eocene. While they closely resembled modern rhinoceroses, they were actually more closely related to modern horses. They first appeared in the Early Eocene, about 54 million years ago, and went extinct at the end of the Eocene, 34 million years ago. Titanotheres have been described under various genera (Brontotherium, Titanotherium, BrontopsMegacerops was the first and therefore technically correct one.