South Dakota

New genus of tiny, hornless deer that roamed South Dakota 32 million years ago discovered

Published

2 years ago

May 10, 2024

New genus of tiny, hornless deer that roamed South Dakota 32 million years ago discovered

A new genus of tiny, hornless deer that lived in South Dakota during the Oligocene Epoch approximately 32 million years ago has been discovered by a team of researchers from Badlands National Park, the American Museum of Natural History and California State Polytechnic University, officials said.

The new deer, called Santuccimeryx, meaning “Santucci’s ruminant”, was named after Vincent L. Santucci, the Senior Paleontologist and Paleontology Program Coordinator in the Geologic Resources Division of the National Park Service “to honor his history with and advocacy for the paleontology program at Badlands National Park,” according to a statement from the National Park Service announcing the discovery.

A high definition photo of the Santuccimeryx skull discovered at Badlands National Park in 2016.

National Park Service

The research was published this week in the “Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science.”

“Santuccimeryx belongs to the extinct family Leptomerycidae, and its skull shares features of both the Oligocene genus Leptomeryx and the Miocene genus Pseudoparablastomeryx, two animals that are nearly 10 million years apart in time,” NPS said in their statement. “The family Leptomerycidae were about the size of house cats and lived in North America from the late-middle Eocene (about 41 million years ago) to the end of the middle Miocene (about 11 million years ago). They are considered close relatives to the living chevrotains, or mouse deer, from the tropical forests of central and western Africa and southeast Asia.”

The new genus of deer has teeth very similar to Leptomeryx and a skull resembling that of the Pseudoparablastomeryx, officials said.

“Since it does not fit into either existing genus, [officials] concluded the deer must be placed into a new genus of its own,” NPS said.

PHOTO: A small deer is shown in front of a plant, in an artistic representation of what Santuccimeryx might have looked like. — A paleoartistic reconstruction of the newly named genus Santuccimeryx elissae, shown standing in front of hackberry bushes. Its small size (3-5 lbs), relatively large orbits, and shortened skull differentiate Santuccimeryx from the tiny Oligocene deer Leptomeryx. Illustration by Benji Paysnoe.
Illustration by Benji Paysnoe.
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“I am both personally and professionally grateful to be associated with this important new fossil discovery from Badlands National Park, where I began my career as a paleontologist with the National Park Service in 1985,” Santucci said.

The research was prompted when the first — and still only known skull of the deer — was discovered at Badlands in 2016.

“It’s a really neat example with this paper to be able to highlight citizen science, because this is the only skull of this animal ever found,” Mattison Shreero, who headed up the research, said. “And if somebody had walked away with it, or if they just hadn’t reported it and it had eroded away, we would have never known about it.”

Visitors at Badlands who spot what they think might be a fossil or artifact are asked to leave it in place and submit a Visitor Site Report at the Visitor Center, with a park ranger, or by email information about their find to Badlands_fossil_finds@nps.gov.

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South Dakota

DOE selects nine school districts for 2026 South Dakota Perkins Reserve grant

Published

1 hour ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

DOE selects nine school districts for 2026 South Dakota Perkins Reserve grant

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Nine school districts have been selected as recipients of the 2026 Perkins Reserve Grant by the South Dakota Department of Education.

The grant provides major equipment upgrades for Career and Technical Education programs, helping to equip students with the skills and experiences needed for post-secondary education and the workforce.

“CTE programs are constantly evolving to match the pace of workforce needs,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Joseph Graves.

“The South Dakota Perkins Reserve Grant aids schools in equipping students with current technologies, resources, and tools, offering students a realistic, hands-on learning experience that will strengthen their marketability to colleges or employers once they leave the K-12 education system.”

The following school districts have been named as the 2026 recipients:

Aberdeen School District:
- Awarded $30,233 for new precision machine equipment for the manufacturing program.
De Smet School District:
- Awarded $15,898 for modernizing metal fabrication within agriculture programs.
Lake Preston School District:
- Awarded $43,160 for expansion of program offers in multiple career clusters to strengthen industrial alignment.
McLaughlin School District:
- Awarded $11,997 to purchase equipment to offer a new culinary arts program.
Menno School District:
- Awarded $32,844 to purchase small engines and attend professional development opportunities to enhance the agricultural mechanics program.
Mitchell School District:
- Awarded $38,663 for the modernization of the automotive technology lab.
Timber Lake School District:
- Awarded $42,400 for the expansion of agriculture course offerings to strengthen industry alignment.
Wakpala School District:
- Awarded $40,145 to purchase a skid steer simulator to enhance the agriculture and construction program.
Wolsey-Wessington School District:
- Awarded $26,201 to purchase industry-aligned equipment to enhance the agriculture and construction program.

You can learn more about the South Dakota Perkins Reserve Grant at doe.sd.gov.

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Powerball, Lotto America winning numbers for March 4, 2026

Published

13 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 4, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 4 drawing

07-14-42-47-56, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 4 drawing

33-38-39-47-51, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Dakota Cash numbers from March 4 drawing

02-18-22-30-32

Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 4 drawing

12-13-36-39-58, Bonus: 03

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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South Dakota

South Dakota lawmakers push bill criminalizing deepfakes nearer to governor’s desk

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

South Dakota lawmakers push bill criminalizing deepfakes nearer to governor’s desk

John Hult
| South Dakota Searchlight

PIERRE — A bill from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley to criminalize the creation or sharing of deepfakes was amended this week to more clearly define what constitutes nudity before it reaches Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk.

The amendment, added on the floor of the House of Representatives, came in response to concerns about unintended consequences.

Senate Bill 41 creates a class of felony crime for the creation or distribution of images digitally altered to depict a person in a state of nudity or involved in a sexually explicit act, commonly referred to as deepfakes.

In testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday in Pierre, Jackley pointed to the case of Mark Rathbun, a former Division of Motor Vehicles employee who is accused of taking images of women and girls from state databases and creating sexual images.“This is real, and it’s something that we unfortunately are seeing happen in our state,” Jackley said.

The judiciary committee voted 8-3 to send the bill to the House floor but not before a discussion on its potential to criminalize political memes.

The bill’s definition of nudity originally encompassed a partial state of nudity. Fort Pierre Republican Rep. Will Mortenson asked Jackley if that would include a fabricated topless photo. Jackley said yes. Then Mortenson asked if a fabricated image of Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker without a shirt, if shared by President Donald Trump on social media, would put the president in line for felony charges.

Jackley said a Pritzker image wouldn’t qualify because Pritzker is male, but Mortenson pushed back.

He noted that partially nude fabrications would be a felony if done with the intent to “self-gratify or alarm, annoy, embarrass, harass, invade the privacy of, threaten, or cause emotional, financial, physical, psychological, or reputational harm to that individual.”

Nothing in the bill specified that a person in a digitally fabricated topless image must be female.

“We just said that half-nude is a state of nudity, and so now he’s shirtless, and the point of this is to embarrass this guy,” Mortenson said of his topless Pritzker meme scenario.

Mortenson voted against the bill in committee but brought an amendment Tuesday to define nudity as inclusive of male or female genitalia, buttocks or the female nipple.

The amendment passed, but it did not address every concern about the bill.

Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman of Sioux Falls asked Jackley during the bill’s committee hearing why he didn’t use it to enhance penalties for people who film others in states of undress or participating in sexual activity against their will.

That behavior is a felony if it involves the recording of a minor, or if it happens repeatedly. The new penalties for deepfakes would be added to the same chapter of South Dakota law.

“Why is the first time hidden recording a misdemeanor generally, but a digitally fabricated image would automatically be a classified felony,” said Wittman.

Jackley said he feels that the creation of digitally manipulated sexual images, even if they aren’t shared, signals “significant criminal intent.” He told South Dakota Searchlight after the committee meeting that he’s open to addressing that issue, but that SB 41’s primary purpose was to target deepfakes.

On the House floor, Wittman was one of two representatives to say the bill’s felony penalties could be unnecessarily harsh in instances where young people make “a stupid decision” and create a deepfake.

“I feel like, in a lot of situations, this bill covers behavior that could be covered by a lower level of offense,” Wittman said.

Supporters countered that the creation of fake nudes can do real psychological damage to real people, and that the state needs to clearly signal that doing so is a serious crime.

“It’s only fun and games until it happens to you,” said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-St. Onge.

The bill passed the House 60-6. It now moves to the state Senate, which passed the bill 32-0 on Jan. 16. The Senate would need to approve the amended version of the bill before it could be delivered to Gov. Larry Rhoden to sign or veto.

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