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NORTH AMERICAN PLEISTOCENE HEMIAUCHENIA LLAMA FOSSIL MANDIBLE JAW WITH ORIGINAL TEETH Santa Fe River - Florida, U.S.A. PLEISTOCENE PERIOD: 1..8 million - 10,000 years ago From the depths of the famous Santa Fe River comes this beautiful fossil mandible of a prehistoric North American llama that once thrived in Florida, Hemiauchenia sp.. This fossil jaw still displays all the original molars embedded in the bone. Each of the teeth shows stunning cream, white and black enamel with moderate feeding wear. The bone is a very heavy, well-mineralized chocolate brown. Isolated teeth of this animal are not uncommon discoveries in Florida's fossil deposits but more complete jaws like this with the original teeth ARE UNCOMMON. This is a great specimen because it can be used as a reference to help identify the different lower molars as it contains all the molars and premolars except for the tiniest premolar. The specimen is exactly as found completely intact with a well-preserved chewing surface. There is no part missing on the section of jaw you see with a complete bottom surface edge of the original bone, in other words, the bottom of the jaw is intact, not missing or sheared off. NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION. The Hemiauchenia species in Florida consisted of several types of llamas. Dating back to the Miocene Period 9 million years ago, some of these species were as tall as a modern camel with other species being about the size of a modern llama. All were of a lighter build than modern comparisons. Hemiauchenia teeth are of a hypsodont design, meaning the crown is very tall and in many cases, exceeds the height of the roots. The cheek teeth of Hemiauchenia are very angular with sharp, dramatic crescents. The Hemiauchenia along with all other members of the Camelidae family survived in Florida all the way to the end of the Pleistocene. Today, they are survived only by species living in the high plains of South America and in parts of Paraguay. Florida's history of terrestrial vertebrates is extremely important to our fossil record. Without the knowledge gained from these fossils, the history of Cenozoic terrestrial life on the North American continent would be very incomplete. SUPERB LOWER JAW SECTION WITH ALL PRIMARY MOLARS AND PREMOLARS EXCEPT SMALLEST PREMOLAR - SUPERB TEETH! 5.65" in length overall SOLD LM46-100 INCLUDES STAND Actual Item - One Only |
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