8.5" Inflated Fossil Tortoise (Stylemys) - South Dakota

This is an 8.5" long shell (carapace and plastron) of an Oligocene-aged tortoise (Stylemys nebrascensis) from the White River Formation in the Badlands of South Dakota.

It comes with a display stand.

There is restoration to the anterior and posterior ends of the carapace, making up approximately 10%. Restoration can also be found along the anterior and posterior ends of the plastron, making up about 5% of the 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.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Stylemys nebrascensis
LOCATION
Shannon County, South Dakota
FORMATION
White River Formation
SIZE
Length: 8.5", Width: 6.5", Height: 2.4"
ITEM
#316910
GUARANTEE
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.