Oreodont Skulls (oligocene)

[Fruitbat]

Here are a couple of the better oreodont skulls that I've collected over the years. I also added a picture of one that I'm still trying to free completely from the matrix. All of these come from the Oligocene of Nebraska. There is no reconstruction work on either of the skulls.

Merycoidodon culbertsoni - a fairly common oreodont from the Brule Formation

Miniochoerus sp.cf. gracile - a smaller oreodont from the Brule Formation

A work in progress

-Joe

[Roz]

Excellent specimens... I have always wanted to find a skull and hope I do

within the next few years. Not quite sure what an oreodont is but looks a

bit like a wild hog.

[Fruitbat]

Oreodonts were ancient Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulate mammals) that went extinct about 4 million years ago in the Pliocene. They ranged from about the size of a sheep to as large as a cow depending on genus/species. Interestingly enough, oreodonts are sometimes referred to as 'ruminating pigs' even though they are probably not pigs and they probably weren't ruminants (cud-chewers) either. There are no representatives of the Family today.

Here is one artist's conception of what Merycoidodon culbertsoni (probably the most commonly-encountered of the oreodonts) might have looked like:

(Note: image included for educational purposes only.)

-Joe

[Guest Nicholas]

Great additional info, I really would like to get my hands on a skull of one. Maybe when I'm hunting stateside I will.

[Rain1950]

Looks are deceiving; from the skull; looks like a mean character but when I looked it up, a rather placid planteater

[RJB]

Very Cool stuff fruitbat. That one in the middle is absolutly beautiful!!! I was lucky enough to go on a dig with Dr. Kent Sundell from Casper Wyoming a few years ago. I did find some partial skulls and lots of destroyed turtles, but my best hunting was in his shop. But that cost me some money. Someday I will prep out a couple of skulls I got from him including a rabbit, but here is one that I finished up.

RB

[txemiku]

Those are really awesome fossils!! Congratulations!!

I have seen lot of those fossils in internet, so i guess that they have to be relative abundant in Nebraska, South Dakota,... but i wonder why the skull is the only fossil that i have seen, are the skull disarticulated? or is it almost impossible to extract the rest of the animal?

Another question is related to the hardness of the matrix because the prep of those fossils is always wonderful with a special mention to your excellent work!! Is it a soft matrix or it is a limestone?

Thanks and congratulation again for those awesome fossils!

[Gatorman]

Skulls are awesome

[Fruitbat]

Thanks all for your kind words and additional information.

txemiku...

The matrix around many of these Oligocene fossils is pretty hard stuff, though it isn't limestone (which is primarily a marine sediment). At the surface of the badlands the weathered matrix is very friable and is easily removed but beneath the surface the matrix is "hard as a rock"

You can see on the 'work in progress' picture that the matrix is pretty well consolidated. I use a Craftsman engraving tool to remove the matrix a little at a time.

It isn't uncommon to find a disarticuled skull in the deposits but post-cranial material is also pretty common. I have seen a number of nearly fully articulated skeletons taken out of the Chadron and Brule deposits. I guess the skull material is more spectacular which would explain why you see so many more pictures of skulls posted on the internet.

-Joe

[Guest geofossiles]

hello

i search fossil of badlands

skull and tutle

contact me

i m leave in france

thank you

[Guest N.AL.hunter]

Somehow I missed this posting when it first came out. I found several Oreondont skulls in my digs north of Lusk, Wyoming. However, only one of them was both upper and lower sections. I prepped all of them except two which are still in their matrix. Will use them for trade material. Just looking at yours and noticed their coloration. Everything I found in the Brule and Chadron was very white. Your colored ones look nicer. Have you ever looked at them under a UV light source? They are loaded with calcite so the teeth show up real well as does a lot of the bone material. Always thought it would be interesting to go out on a very, very dark night with a portable unit and see what "lights up". I also found part of another critter out there with very large teeth and bigger skull. Never have identified it (looks pig like). When I can I will post a pic of it and see if anyone can tell me what it is. Again, really nice finds you keep posting. I want to go back up there real bad, but no longer have the contact/permission I did in the early 90s.

[Fruitbat]

The area north of Lusk is a great place for Oligocene stuff. I have looked at the specimens under UV and they do glow quite nicely, as you noted. The bigger skull you found could very easily be an entelodont, possibly Archaeotherium. I have found bits and pieces of them but never a complete skull. Fascinating monsters!

-Joe

[darren]

YOUR KILLING ME !!! I'LL BE IN CRAWFORD FOR TWO WEEKS HUNTING FOSSILS LATER THIS SPRING!! IT CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH! PLEASE SHOW SOME OF YOUR OTHER FINDS FROM THE AREA.

THANKS DARREN

[Guest N.AL.hunter]

thanks Fruitbat, I'll post my pic as soon as I find which box the partial larger skull is in. We just moved into a new home and are doing some finishing details, so have not unpacked any fossils yet. I'll keep you in mind when I do get to it.

[worthy 55]

WOW!!!! Those are some really outstanding fossils Joe.