Entelodont
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| Entelodonts Fossil range: Middle Eocene - Early Miocene |
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 Illustration of Entelodon
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Entelodonts are an extinct, omnivorous, group of mammals, distantly related to modern pigs and other non-ruminating artiodactyls. They ranged across the forests of Asia, Europe and North America during the Oligocene and early Miocene, 45 to 25 million years ago. The largest stood 2.1 m (7 feet) tall, and had a brain the size of a fist[citation needed]. They ate carrion and live animals, rounding off their diet with plants.
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[edit] Characteristics
The Entelodonts were rather pig-like animals, with bulky bodies but short, slender legs, and long muzzles. They had a full set of teeth, including large canines, heavy incisors, and relatively simple, yet powerful, molars. These features suggest an omnivorous diet, similar to that of modern pigs. Like many other artiodactyls, they had cloven hooves, with two toes touching the ground, and the remaining two being vestigial[1].
The most visible characteristics of the animals, however, would have been the heavy, bony lumps on either side of their heads. Some of these may be have been attachment points for powerful jaw muscles[1][2], but some were larger in males, suggesting that they may also have had a role in competition for mates[3].
[edit] Lifestyle
Entelodonts were the apex predators of North America's Early Miocene and Oligocene. They would have hunted large animals, like Eporeodon major and Poebrotherium wilsoni, dispatching them with a blow from their jaws. Some fossil remains of these other animals have been found with the bite marks of entelodonts on them. Like modern day pigs, they were omnivores, eating both meat and plants, but their adaptations show a bias towards live prey and carrion. They most likely were opportunists, mainly eating live animals, but wouldn't sneer at carrion and would eat roots and tubers in times of drought. Some entelodonts even exhibited cacheing behavior, as an Archaeotherium's cache has been discovered, made up of the remains of several early camels.
[edit] In popular culture
Entelodonts appear in Walking with Beasts and the 2001 remake of The Lost World. The creature is also featured in the video game Wildlife Park 2, and its colouration is similar to that in the previous films.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Savage, RJG, & Long, MR (1986). Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide. New York: Facts on File, 209-210. ISBN 0-8160-1194-X.
- ^ (1999) in Palmer, D.: The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions, 267. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ^ Entelodont General Evidence. BBC Worldwide (2002). Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
