Posts by Mark Terry

Ekgmowechashala is not a household word. Paleontologists usually just call this critter “Eggymo.” Many years ago, a nice two-centimeter long fragment of a lower jaw, showing four teeth, including three molars, was found in South Dakota, and was named Ekgmowechashala—invented from local Native American words. What made this discovery special, was that the molars, if they looked like anything, looked like primate molars. No other bones were found, but also exciting was the date: the Oligocene-Miocene border, or about 25 million years ago.