Species Profile: Oreodonts

The most common mammal fossil in the White River Badlands!

Image by Zimces, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Oreodont "Mountain-Teeth"

Oreodonts are a type of mammal in the same family as modern hooved mammals such as deer, pigs and camels. These animals existed throughout the White River Formation in South Dakota and neighboring states during the Eocene and Oligocene, some 30 million years ago. Some species of Oreodont have been found in what many believe to be collapsed burrow systems, this suggests that some species spent time underground.  

Since these are some of the most common fossils across the White River formation, they are frequently collected to assist in the training of fossil preparators. This also suggests a relatively high population density for Oreodonts living in the area at the time. There have been a multitude of oreodont species known from the White River Formation from the cow sized Eporeodon to the rabbit sized Leptauchenia. The most commonly excavated and prepped species would be Merycoidon.