3
$\begingroup$

The fossil tooth was found western South Dakota in the early 1980s. I can't be sure on the location. It might have been collected from Belle Reservoir, near Belle Fourche, Butte County, South Dakota, USA.
What type of mammal does this fossil tooth belong to?

Top view of fossil tooth Side view of Fossil tooth

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ That's an awesome mystery, it's somewhere in between a bear and a monkey (very odd) not a ruminant of any kind. thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/14-fossil-id it seems that prior to the WWW in 1980, the community had to shelve stuff without photos and emails. Someone's got to recall where it's from, it's stunning. if it's less than 30k yrs it may have DNA? It must be many millions of years. $\endgroup$
    – bandybabboon
    Feb 22, 2018 at 17:42
  • $\begingroup$ Point of stating early 1980s is to say it was legally obtained. The site is now off-limits being on federal land. $\endgroup$
    – Earth Science Expatriate
    Feb 22, 2018 at 17:43
  • $\begingroup$ some input from a biologist had been helpful on this one. $\endgroup$
    – trond hansen
    Feb 23, 2018 at 18:50
  • $\begingroup$ I'd have naively thought this would be better on like Biology SE, but perhaps I'm wrong! Do suppose paleontology could be loosely on topic here with it's tie ins to geology... and not sure it'd hold well anywhere else? $\endgroup$
    – JeopardyTempest
    Feb 24, 2018 at 15:02

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5
$\begingroup$

It's an entelodont, South Dakota is famous for it's Oligocene mammalian faunas which include entelodonts such as Archaeotherium and Daeodon. enter image description here

here is an http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/181202162847-0-1/s-l1000.jpg for comparison: enter image description here

Thanks to the guys at fossilforum, they knew in less than a day. this question could have stayed on here for a year so i was impatient.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.