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I took a trip to Nebraska to collect the White River Formations for the very first time this past summer. I had two goals: recover a Stylemys and an Oreodont skull. I found both! I reported on the prep of the Stylemys in an earlier post on the prep sub-forum. When I saw the Oreodont, I yelled "Bingo, Oreodont!". So that's the name I gave the animal. This post will summarize the discovery, preparation, and reconstruction of the specimen. The skull was not complete, and only about 25-30% of the animal was present, so with apologies to the "Palaeo Police" , I decided that this specimen would have a greater contribution as a display piece than sitting in a drawer with other oreodont remains (which are common and numerous). Also, if any of these bones were later found to be of scientific importance, the procedures used in this reconstruction are reversible THE DISCOVERY Bingo was spotted on the side of a relatively steep butte. The first thing I saw was the partial skull. Here it is: After exclaiming (proclaiming) "Bingo!", I left the skull and immediately went to the base of the butte and started probing and digging in the two washouts that originated in the vicinity of the skull. These re-worked deposits were yielding lots of bone elements from the posterior to the anterior of the skeleton. I even managed to recover the brain cast and pieces of the skull that had washed down. Once the re-worked deposits had been thoroughly searched, I climbed up to the skull and began excavating. The top of the snout was crushed (predation?). The brain case area was also fragmented as well as the rear of the jaw. Some of this was pieced together later from elements found in the spoil at the base of the butte. I removed the skull via a "soft jacket". Here is what was recovered: