Early artiodactyl mammal — Miniochoerus sp.

Geologic period: Paleogene — Oligocene

Age: Approximately 33 million years old for the Miniochoerus skull described by the Smithsonian.

Feeding: Herbivorous.

Locomotion: Terrestrial quadruped; locomotion is reconstructed from broader skeletal evidence rather than this skull alone.

Body plan: Small-bodied terrestrial mammal represented here by its skull.

Evidence: Skull anatomy is direct evidence. Diet and whole-body reconstruction combine anatomical evidence with comparative interpretation.

Why it matters: The skull demonstrates that Cenozoic ecosystems contained many successful mammal lineages with no exact living counterpart.

Plain Language Identity: Skull of Miniochoerus, a small extinct oreodont mammal.

What You Are Looking At: A fossil skull preserving the head and tooth anatomy of an extinct early artiodactyl relative.

Preservation: Fossil skull.

Open Questions: The exhibit inventory identifies this only as Miniochoerus sp.; do not silently promote it to a particular species.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3439645

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Miniochoerus sp.

Evidence / representation: Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Reading Deep Time: How Rocks, Fossils and Time Become Evidence.