Merycoidodon is a hoofed, herbivorous mammal that roamed the great plains around 35 million years ago. It walked on 4 legs, and was closely related to camels, pigs, and sheep. It’s teeth provide a clue to its diet – sharp, chisel like canine teeth in the front of the jaws were useful in slicing chopping vegetation, while robust cheek teeth in the back of the jaws provided surface area for grinding. The SMM paleontology collection includes a number of nearly perfect Merycoidodon specimens, all the result of a donation by Dr. Ray Lemley in 1981.

Some of the coolest fossils at the SMM are derived from the Lemley Collection. Lemley was a South Dakota native who attended Macalester College before beginning his medical career. His love of collecting took him around the world, but he spent most of his summers hiking around on his own ranch in South Dakota, searching for fossils. His Minnesota connections resulted in the donation of his entire collection of beautifully preserved White River Formation animals (from turtles, to mice, to rabbits, to horses, to hyenas) to the SMM.
– Kristi Curry Rogers, Curator of Paleontology