1" Poebrotherium Wilsoni Fossil Jaw Teeth Primitive Camel SD Badlands Display

Location: Brule Formation, South Dakota

Weight: 0.4 Ounces 

Dimensions: 1 Inch Long, 0.7 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick

Comes with a Free Display.

The item pictured is the one you will receive. 

33.9 - 22 Million Years Old Oligocene Epoch

Poebrotherium is an extinct genus of camelid that was endemic to North America, living from the Eocene to Miocene epochs for approximately 32 million years. The genus was first described by Joseph Leidy in 1848, with its relationship to other White River fossils further elaborated by him in 1853. Although Leidy had limited material at his disposal, he determined that Poebrotherium was likely related to modern llamas. Between 1848 and 1853, additional fossil material was sent to Leidy, but only three more tooth specimens were recovered, highlighting the rarity of well-preserved fossils.

The skull of Poebrotherium resembled that of a modern llama, and its limbs ended in hooved toes, adapted for speed more so than the feet of its relative Protylopus. Despite these apparent adaptations for open plains, fossils of Poebrotherium have been found in a variety of environments, including forests and river overbank deposits, suggesting that it was not restricted to a single habitat. Its teeth were more generalized than those of modern camelids, and despite its name meaning “grass-eating beast,” it likely fed as a browser or mixed feeder, with grass playing a minimal role in its diet.

Unlike its modern cousins, which are specialized for desert or alpine conditions, Poebrotherium occupied an ecological niche similar to that of a gazelle or deer. Fossil evidence indicates that it was a common prey item for the entelodont Archaeotherium. Partial carcasses of Poebrotherium have been discovered showing feeding marks that suggest they were killed and possibly cached by Archaeotherium, the only predator in the White River ecosystem capable of producing such marks.