Extremely Rare Mounted Oreodont Skeleton

Extremely Rare Mounted Oreodont Skeleton Merycoidodon culbertsoni Late Oligocene, 33-to 30-million-years-old White River Badlands, Shannon County, South Dakota, USA This superb articulated specimen consists of over 85% original bone material from one animal and is not a composite. The quality of the bones is superb, from the lovely clean cream/white coloring to the fine texture. Only some of the toe bones, ribs and tail vertebrae were missing from the skeleton, which was found in near articulation and painstakingly collected to assure that no pieces of the original specimen were left behind. The skull is in excellent condition with little distortion and virtually a complete set of teeth. The specimen was expertly prepared and strikingly mounted in a natural curving pose measuring just over 4 feet in length (125 cm) from head to tail. Merycoidodon ('ruminating teeth') is an extinct genus of Oreodont – an 'even-toed' artiodactyl closely related to camels and pigs – although with no close living relative. Oreodonts ('ruminating hogs'), especially Merycoidodon, were the most abundant of the Oreodonts in the White River Badlands and are often found in Oreodont beds of mass mortalities. This browser was pig – or sheep-like in appearance, but probably was actually more like a camelid. They lived in large herds and were nomadic going from place to place. They were cud-chewing with short faces and 'fang-like' canine teeth though this group was more likely the prey rather than predator in the Badlands. To our knowledge, this is the only full skeleton of an Oreodont to be offered at public auction in the last two decades. Length 49 1/5 in (head to tail) Footnotes: Offered on a custom armature and stand. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing