''Entelodon'' (meaning "complete teeth", from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''entelēs'' "complete" and ''odōn'' "tooth", referring to its "complete" eutherian dentition), is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

entelodont Entelodontidae, the entelodonts, are an extinct family of pig-like artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) which inhabited the Northern Hemisphere (Asia, Europe, and North America) from the late Eocene to the Middle Miocene epochs, about 38-19 million ...

artiodactyl The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poster ...

endemic to

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

. Fossils of species are found in Paleogene strata ranging in age from the

Houldjinian The Houldjinian age is a period of geologic time (37.2–33.9 Ma) within the Late Eocene epoch of the Paleogene used more specifically with Asian Land Mammal Ages. It follows the Ergilian and precedes the Kekeamuan age. The Houldjinian's lower bo ...

(37.2–33.9 mya) until the Rupelian epoch of the early

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

(33.9–28.4 mya).

Taxonomy

It is one of four entelodont genera native to Eurasia, the other three being the primitive ''

Eoentelodon ''Eoentelodon'' is a small, primitive entelodont, assigned as such by Carroll (1998), from the Middle Eocene of China. It was a very small entelodont, about the size of a modern pig, and was slightly smaller than its North American counterpar ...

'' of late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, '' Proentelodon'' of middle Eocene

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and the gigantic ''

Paraentelodon ''Paraentelodon'' is an extinct entelodont from the Late Oligocene and Oligocene-Miocene boundary of Asia. The fossils of the type species ''P. intermedium'' were found in Georgia, Kazakhstan and China. An indeterminate species represents in Bu ...

'' of mid to late

Central Asia.

Description

Size comparison between Entelodon deguilhemi and a human male

''Entelodon'' was a fairly typical

, with a large, bulky body, slender legs, and a long snout. Like other entelodonts, ''Entelodon'' had complete eutherian dentition (3

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, whe ...

s, 1 canine, 3

premolar The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mouth ...

s, and 3

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

per quadrant). It had only two toes on each foot, and its legs were built for fast running.Agustí, J and Antón, M (2002). ''Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe''. Retrieved fro
Google Books
/ref> Its long, wide head was supported by a robust, short neck, and its

cheekbones In anatomy, the zygomatic arch, or cheek bone, is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the opening of the ear) and the temporal process of the zygoma ...

were greatly enlarged and protruded noticeably from the sides of the head. Though it was more closely related to

hippos A hippo or hippopotamus is either of two species of large African mammal which live mainly in and near water: * Hippopotamus * Pygmy hippopotamus Hippo or Hippos may also refer to: Toponymy * The ancient city of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Al ...

and

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

than

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

s, its skull was generally pig-like. It is presumed to have been an omnivore. European species of ''Entelodon'' were around tall at the shoulders, with a skull. ''Entelodon major'', known from the Kutanbulak Formation in Kazakhstan was around tall at the shoulders, with a skull, making it one of the largest entelodonts.

Paleoecology

''Entelodon'' remains are primarily known from Europe, although fossils have also been found in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and even as far east as Japan. ''Entelodon magnus'' populated a broad swath of Europe, with remains found in Spain, Germany, France, Romania, and the Caucasus. Extensive remains of ''Entelodon deguilhemi'' were uncovered in

Vayres-sur-Essonne Vayres-sur-Essonne (, literally ''Vayres on Essonne (river), Essonne'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. Prior to 1 January 1968, Vayres-sur-Essonne was part ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The Chinese ''Entelodon dirus'' is known from a single tooth discovered in

Nei Mongol Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

.Paleobiology Database:Entelodon dirus
/ref>

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133847 Oligocene even-toed ungulates Entelodonts Rupelian genus extinctions Paleogene mammals of Asia Paleogene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1846 Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera

Taxonomy

Description

Paleoecology

See also

References