Need ID help for fossil jaw with incisors

[diginupbones]

I have never found a jaw like this. The only thing I can find that is similar is tapir which would be pretty rare for this area. Found in south central South Dakota. Miocene 
 

[jpc]

Nice find.  Can't help with ID, but this is cool.

 

[diginupbones]

As unique looking as this is, I thought it would be an easy one for you guys!  I’m wondering if we can narrow this down a bit? Can we eliminate A few possibilities like horse, deer and camel?  @Harry Pristis  @Shellseeker

[Harry Pristis]

My best guess is it is from an artiodactyl, a group that was varied in the Miocene.

 

[Styles]

Weird how the teeth don't extend beyond the alveolar process.  Juvenile?

[Fossil_Adult]

This is a really cool find! I can't shed light on what it is but it looks really cool!

[Harry Pristis]

1 hour ago, Styles said:

Weird how the teeth don't extend beyond the alveolar process.  Juvenile?

 

This individual was a juvenile; the i1s are emergent.  These incisors are very large, and maybe further identification can be done if one is loose enough to remove from the jaw to photograph.

Here's the dental timetable for modern horses for example.

 

[Shellseeker]

Not much help... here

A previous TFF thread that shows some nice up close Tapir incisors.. Tapir incisors seem to have longitudinal lines.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/100770-pleistocene-tampa-bay-mammal-id/

Yours on the other hand has horizontal lines...

 

As a South Dakota miocene fossil hunter, here is another thread that might interest you.  Let's see if @fossillarry or @siteseer have a view.

 

[diginupbones]

4 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

These incisors are very large, and maybe further identification can be done if one is loose enough to remove from the jaw to photograph.

I took a closer look at this piece and cleaned it up a bit. Unfortunately those teeth are pretty much encased in bone and didn’t move a bit. Probably why they stayed in there for thousands of years. 

1 hour ago, Shellseeker said:

 

As a South Dakota miocene fossil hunter, here is another thread that might interest you.  Let's see if @fossillarry or @siteseer have a view.

 

 
Thanks Jack, I don’t know how I missed that thread.

[hemipristis]

Antelope?  

[RFausta]

I know very little about the Miocene of the Dakotas but this fossil has FASCINATED me. The fact that the incisors are so large, and that there are only two of them, with a flattened cross-section and the interesting linear enamel has got me pulling out all my books! Can you tell me what formation(s) this might have come from? I will happily research this until i go cross-eyed (thats kinda my jam.. i finished a 50-page report on some pleistocene mammal fossils yesterday and now i am just killing time :))

(I am a Cultural Resource Management paleontologist originally from California, so its mostly pleistocene vertebrates and miocene marine fossils). 

[diginupbones]

This was found in the northern edge of the Ogallala formation.Those two large incisors have me scratching my head also. It’s hard to tell (for me) how many teeth it would’ve eventually had it as an adult. Here are a couple of more angles that might help. I appreciate your interest!

 

[RFausta]

1 hour ago, diginupbones said:

This was found in the northern edge of the Ogallala formation.Those two large incisors have me scratching my head also. It’s hard to tell (for me) how many teeth it would’ve eventually had it as an adult. Here are a couple of more angles that might help. I appreciate your interest!

 

I am leaning towards peccary but i am hitting the point of confirmation bias so i gotta take a break

[Harry Pristis]

1 hour ago, RFausta said:

I am leaning towards peccary but i am hitting the point of confirmation bias so i gotta take a break

 

Well, there could be major changes to the jaw later in life to accommodate tusks; but, as is, I don't see peccary.

 

 

[diginupbones]

Solved!!! From Dr Hulbert,

 

“This is a mandibular symphysis from a horse. The paired permanent first incisors are beginning to erupt but were unworn at the time of death. The scoop-like shape of the incisors suggest it might be Megahippus”