13.3" Colorful Inflated Fossil Tortoise (Stylemys) - South Dakota

Colorful Inflated Fossil Tortoise (Stylemys) - South Dakota #373007

This is a 13.3" long shell (carapace and plastron) of an Oligocene-aged tortoise (Stylemys nebrascensis) from the White River Formation in the Badlands of South Dakota. It is nicely inflated with exceptional, one of a kind color preservation.

The shell is about 98% complete. There are some small gap filled cracks along the plastron, with no significant restoration required. Some of the scuts along the anterior and posterior edges of the carapace have undergone some crack repair and gap fill restoration, with about three of the posterior scutes having been partially restored. Additional gap fill cracks can be found across the carapace along natural fractures.

Overall this specimen is in great condition, with some of the most unique and colorful patterns I've ever seen on a Brule Formation tortoise shell!

Stylemys ("pillar turtle") is the first fossil genus of dry land tortoise discovered in the United States. They lived in temperate to subtropical areas of North America, Europe, and Asia.

These extinct tortoises had primitive jaw muscles, unlike today's tortoises that also display the os transiliens bone, and would have been herbivorous. While Stylemys species did exhibit the same neck structure as modern tortoises, the forelimbs weren't ideal for burrowing.

$2,250

SPECIES

Stylemys nebrascensis

AGE

Oligocene (30 - 33 Million Years)