0.8" Poebrotherium Wilsoni Fossil Jaw Teeth Primitive Camel SD Badlands Display
Location: Brule Formation, South Dakota
Weight: 0.4 Ounces
Dimensions: 0.8 Inches Long, 0.5 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick
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33.9 - 22 Million Years Old Oligocene Epoch
Poebrotherium is an extinct genus of camelid that was endemic to North America. These animals lived from the Eocene through the Miocene epochs, existing for approximately 32 million years.
Poebrotherium was first described by the pioneering paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1848. In his initial analysis, Leidy noted similarities between Poebrotherium and modern llamas, despite the limited fossil material available at the time. He later expanded on its relationship to other White River fossils in 1853. Between 1848 and 1853, additional fossil material was sent to Leidy, yet frustratingly, only three more Poebrotherium teeth were recovered among the new specimens. Even with such scarce evidence, Leidy’s work laid the foundation for understanding this early North American camelid and its place in the evolutionary history of the group.
Its skull resembled that of a modern llama, while its limbs ended in hooved toes and were more built for speed than the feet of Protylopus. Despite this apparent adaptation to the open plains, Poebrotherium has been found in all major environments, including forests and river overbank deposits, indicating that it was not tied to one particular environment. The teeth of Poebrotherium were more generalized than those of modern camelids. In fact, despite the name meaning "grass-eating beast," it is likely that Poebrotherium was either a browser or a mixed feeder, and grass may have played a minimal role in the diet.
Unlike its modern cousins, which are adapted for desert or alpine conditions, Poebrotherium took the place of a gazelle or deer in the ecosystem. Fossil evidence has shown that Poebrotherium was a popular prey item for the entelodont Archaeotherium. Remains of partial Poebrotherium carcasses have been found fossilized, and appear to have been killed and cached by Archaeotherium, the only animal known from the White River ecosystem that could have made the feeding marks found on the bones of Poebrotherium.
