Mystery Jaw from the Badlands

[mikeymig]

I bought this large jaw section at MAPS a couple years ago. It was labeled fossil jaw Badlands and that's it. I've collected the Badlands of Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota many times and built a large collection of fossils from these localities. However this jaw has stumped me. My thought was the large Miocene Oreodont Promerycochoerus. Any input will be appreciate. The size of the jaw is 153mm or a little over 6 inches long. The rear molar is 50 mm or 2 inches long. Thank You.

[ParkerPaleo]

I'd tend to agree with your diagnosis.

 

1.  It does look like an Oreodont m2-m3.

2.  Its huge.

3.  It doesn't match anything size wise from Chadron/Orellan/Whitney.

 

That being said, I'm not super familiar with all the genera of Oreodonts beyond the Whitney but I do know there are a few.  Without location/stratigraphy data, this one may be very difficult to nail down.

 

I have a few things in my collection labeled Megoreodon which approach this size but not quite.

[mikeymig]

2 hours ago, ParkerPaleo said:

I'd tend to agree with your diagnosis.

 

1.  It does look like an Oreodont m2-m3.

2.  Its huge.

3.  It doesn't match anything size wise from Chadron/Orellan/Whitney.

 

That being said, I'm not super familiar with all the genera of Oreodonts beyond the Whitney but I do know there are a few.  Without location/stratigraphy data, this one may be very difficult to nail down.

 

I have a few things in my collection labeled Megoreodon which approach this size but not quite.

I have the skull to a Promerycochoerus without lowers. I contacted Frank Garcia and he does have a complete skull with lowers and said they matched his specimen. I paid less than $20 for it at MAPS so I knew it was a safe bet  The size is what got my attention and the color of the bone and teeth. I appreciate your time to leave me a comment.