9" Fossil Oreodont (Eporeodon) Skull - South Dakota

Fossil Oreodont (Eporeodon) Skull - South Dakota #249250

This is a beautifully prepared, 9" long skull of Eporeodon major, an oreodont from the Oligocene-aged Brule Formation of South Dakota. Comes with an acrylic display stand to assist with presentation of the skull.

Restoration is relatively minimal considering most of these skulls are found heavily fragmented and incomplete. The most notable restoration can be found along the left side of the mandible which has roughly 35% restoration. The right side of the mandible is almost entirely complete, with some small spots of restoration at the anterior end of the jaw, just beneath the incisors. With exception of the right canine of the maxilla, all of the teeth are natural with no restoration. The maxilla required some restoration just above the incisors. The right zygomatic arch has been restored as well.

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.