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FINEST GRADE TELEOCERAS MIOCENE RHINO METACARPAL BONE Suwannee River - North Florida, U.S.A. MIDDLE MIOCENE TO LATE MIOCENE (EARLY PLIOCENE): 15 - 4.5 million years ago In keeping with offering some of the finest attainable Pleistocene specimens from North America, this is an impeccable fossil hand bone from Teleoceras proterum, a unique North American rhinoceros that once lived in on the continent. This is a right center metacarpal bone and it is perfect, complete (down to every microscopic bone detail) and so well-mineralized that it clinks like fine china when tapped. It is such a perfect and well-preserved specimen that it would be an ideal model for a paleontological company to use as a model for casting and reproducing. The surfaces on both joints are rock hard and unbelievably intact as is the rest of the body of the bone. Every single anatomical feature is present and in the finest possible state of preservation. The images above attest but this specimen looks even better in person than in the images. This very unique Teleoceras fossil is 100% complete and intact with NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION.. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Coming from a Florida Rhino of the Miocene and in this impeccable form makes it a doubly-rare prize specimen! Emerging during the Mid-Miocene approximately 15 million years ago, the unique member of the rhino family in North America known as Teleoceras, thrived until the very earliest stage of the Pliocene. Think of this creature as a rhino in a hippopotamus' body. This type of rhino was much different in body mass and profile than the modern rhinoceros of today. With its very long and stout body supported upon short, stumpy legs, it is likely that the belly of Teleoceras would have nearly reached the ground. Another notable feature is a single, small conical nasal horn that is present only in males. Believed by some to have had an aquatic life-style based on its awkward body, the complex and high-crowned nature of Teleoceras teeth suggest a grazing diet. Studies performed on the carbon isotopes in the enamel of fossil teeth further support this claim. Several genera of rhinocerotids once populated North America during the Late Eocene and Oligocene Periods. Their extinctions were followed by independent migrations of three Miocene groups from Eurasia in the Miocene. Teleoceras fossils have also been found in Asia, Europe and Africa. ABSOLUTE GEM SPECIMEN THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPROVE ON - PERFECT INTACT CONDITION 3.8" x 2.25" $245 LM50-006 Actual Item - One Only |
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