1" Poebrotherium Wilsoni Fossil Jaw Teeth Primitive Camel SD Badlands Display
Location: Brule Formation, South Dakota
Weight: 0.4 Ounces
Dimensions: 1 Inch Long, 0.8 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, endemic to North America. They lived from the Eocene to Miocene epochs, existing for approximately 32 million years.
Poebrotherium was first named by scientist Joseph Leidy in 1848, and its relationship to other White River fossils was later expanded by him in 1853. The portions that Leidy was able to examine helped him determine it was likely related to modern llamas, even though there was a paucity of new material available after his 1848 diagnosis. Between 1848 and 1853, cases of new material were shipped back to Leidy. Maddeningly, only three more Poebrotherium tooth samples were among the remains recovered.
Poebrotherium had a skull that resembled that of a modern llama, while its limbs ended in hooved toes, built more for speed than the feet of its relative, Protylopus. Although its anatomy suggests adaptations for life on open plains, fossil evidence shows that Poebrotherium inhabited a wide range of environments, including forests and river overbank deposits, indicating it was not limited to a single type of habitat.
The teeth of Poebrotherium were relatively generalized compared to modern camelids. Despite its name, which translates to “grass-eating beast,” it is likely that Poebrotherium was primarily a browser or a mixed feeder, with grass probably playing only a minor role in its diet.
Unlike its modern camelid relatives, which are specialized for desert or alpine environments, Poebrotherium filled an ecological niche similar to that of gazelles or deer. Fossil evidence also reveals that it was preyed upon by the entelodont Archaeotherium. Partial carcasses of Poebrotherium have been discovered with feeding marks that match the capabilities of Archaeotherium, suggesting that this predator killed and cached its prey, making it the only known animal from the White River ecosystem responsible for such feeding traces.
