Lot 762
Fossil Badlands Turtle With Bite Marks. Stylemys nebrascensis was a 30 million year old turtle that roamed the White River Formation of the Badlands of Pennington County South Dakota. This 7X6 inch turtle is unusual in having two deep bite marks that pass through the shell. They definitely look like the bite marks from two large canine teeth possibly made by a Hyaeodon as the teeth of a saber tooth cat were not strong enough to penetrate the hard shell without breaking. The outer carapace is remarkably complete with the individual scutes being a lovely blue- gray color. Also several of the ribs show through the lower scutes with one protruding through the plastron. Stylemys' carapace was formed by a series of scutes made of keratin originally. Keratin is the same material that our finger nails are made of. About 90 percent of the underside of the turtle, the plastron, which was formed by bony plates is preserved. This turtle is of museum quality with the highly desirable predator bite marks. Estimated Value $750 - UP
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| Realized $480 |
