Entelodonts Fossil range: 45–20 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Eocene - Early Miocene
Illustration of Entelodon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Suina
Superfamily:	†Entelodontoidea
Family:	†Entelodontidae Lydekker, 1883
Genera
†Archaeotherium †Brachyhyops †Cypretherium †Daeodon †Entelodon †Eoentelodon †Paraentelodon †Proentelodon
Synonyms
Elotheridae

Entelodonts, sometimes nicknamed Hell Pigs or Terminator Pigs^[1] is an extinct family of pig-like omnivores endemic to forests and North America, Europe, and Asia and from the middle Eocene to early Miocene epochs (37.2—16.3 mya), existing for approximately 20.9 million years.^[2]

Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Morphology 2.1 Body mass 3 Dentition 4 Lifestyle 5 In popular culture 6 References

[edit] Taxonomy

Entelodontidae was named by Richard Lydekker and assigned to Nonruminantia by Gregory (1910)^[3]. Then assigned to Artiodactyla by Lucas et al.^[4] (1998); and to Entelodontoidea by Carroll (1988) and Boisserie et al. (2005).

[edit] Morphology

Entelodonts are an extinct group of omnivorous mammals, distantly related to modern pigs and other non-ruminating artiodactyls being rather pig-like animals, with bulky bodies but short, slender legs, and long muzzles. The largest were the North American Daeodon shoshonensis and the Eurasian Paraentelodon intermedium, standing up to 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) tall at-shoulder, and had brains the size of an orange.^[5]

[edit] Body mass

A single specimen was recorded by M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist for body mass and was estimated to have a weight of 4,207 kg (9,300 lb).^[6]

[edit] Dentition

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^[7].

The most visible characteristics of the animals, however, would have been the heavy, bony lumps on either side of their heads which are similar to a warthog's. Some of these may be have been attachment points for powerful jaw muscles^[7][8], but some were larger in males, suggesting that they may also have had a role in competition for mates^[9].

[edit] Lifestyle

Entelodonts lived in the forests and plains where they were the apex predators of North America's Early Miocene and Oligocene, consuming carrion and live animals and rounding off their diet with plants and tubers. 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

• http://www.abc.net.au/beasts/factfiles/factfiles/entelodont.htm Video, images & sound
• http://cdm.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/geoscience&CISOPTR=34&REC=1 Entelodont Skeleton
• http://www.keltationsart.com/Daeodon.htm
• http://www.avph.hpg.ig.com.br/dinohyus.htm