0.7" Palaeolagus Hayeni Fossil Jaw Section Teeth Oligocene Epoch South Dakota Display

Location: Brule Formation, Pennington County, South Dakota

Weight: 0.2 Ounces

Dimensions: 0.7 Inches Long, 0.4 Inches Wide, 0.2 Inches Thick

Comes with a free display.

The item pictured is the one you will receive. 

Oligocene epoch, 33.9 to 23 million years ago

Palaeolagus hayeni was an ancient rabbit species that lived in North America during the Oligocene epoch. It belongs to the genus Palaeolagus, one of the earliest and most primitive groups of lagomorphs, bridging the gap between ancestral mammals and modern rabbits and hares.

Fossils of Palaeolagus hayeni are mostly skulls and teeth, which reveal key details about its diet and classification. Its teeth were adapted for grinding tough plant material, while its limbs suggest it moved with a generalized running or scampering gait rather than the specialized hopping seen in modern rabbits. Studying this species provides important insights into the early evolutionary history of lagomorphs and the development of traits seen in their modern descendants.