''Paraentelodon'' 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 ...

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 ...

from the Late

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 ...

and Oligocene-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

boundary of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

.PaleoBiology Database: ''Paraentelodon'', basic info
/ref> The fossils of the type species ''P. intermedium'' were found in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

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 ...

. An indeterminate species represents in Bugti Hills which is the late Oligocene of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

.G. Métais, P.-O. Antoine, L. Marivaux, J.-L. Welcomme, and S. Ducrocq. 2003
New artiodactyl ruminant mammal from the late Oligocene of Pakistan
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48(3):375-382

Discovery and naming

''Paraentelodon'' was named by L. K. Gabunia in 1964 basing on molars and

canine teeth In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dog teeth, or (in the context of the upper jaw) fangs, eye teeth, vampire teeth, or vampire fangs, are the relatively long, pointed teeth. They can appear more flattened howeve ...

that were found in Oligocene sites of Benara, Georgia (

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

at the time of discovery). It was assigned to Entelodontidae by Carroll (1988). In 1996 Lucas and Emry found ''Neoentelodon'' to be synonymous with ''Paraentelodon''. Although Gabunia did not explain the etymology, the name ''Paraentelodon'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''para''/παρα "beside" or "near", ἐντελής entelēs "complete" or "perfect" and ὀδών odōn "tooth".

Description and relationship

One of the largest entelodonts, it had much more massive teeth than those of ''

Entelodon ''Entelodon'' (meaning "complete teeth", from Ancient Greek ''entelēs'' "complete" and ''odōn'' "tooth", referring to its "complete" eutherian dentition), is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl endemic to Eurasia. Fossils of species a ...

''. The close relative of ''P. intermedium'' is probably "''Elodon transsilvanicus''" (Kretzoi, 1941) from Oligocene of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

because of the similarities of knolls on their molars. In spite of this, ''Paraentelodon'' had more common features with Asian and North American entelodonts. It was similar in size and form to the giant entelodont, ''

Daeodon ''Daeodon'' is an extinct genus of entelodont even-toed ungulates that inhabited North America about 23 to 20 million years ago during the latest Oligocene and earliest Miocene. The type species is ''Daeodon shoshonensis'', described by a very ...

'', of early

of North America. The structure of their hands is visibly similar, but ''Paraentelodon'' has larger premolars, less reduction of posterior group of third knoll, a smaller collar of cheek teeth, etc. Some researchers suggest that it was either ancestral to, or shared an ancestor with ''Daeodon'' during a late Oligocene Beringian immigration. As with other entelodonts, it was an omnivore that had large teeth that enabled it to crush bone and dig for tubers like its North American relatives.

Paleoenvironment

In the late Oligocene horizon of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, ''Paraentelodon sp.'' was found in the same crust as the giant rhinocerotoid '' Paraceratherium bugtiense'' and the anthracothere '' Anthracotherium bugtiense''. The fauna of this locality also includes the

bovid The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, the ...

−like ruminant '' Palaeohypsodontus zinensis''. All these animals attests to life of an open forested territory. The jaws of ''Paraentelodon'' were found in the early Miocene Jiaozigou locality of China where a tusk of a ''

Gomphotherium ''Gomphotherium'' (; "welded beast") is an extinct genus of proboscids from the Neogene and early Pleistocene of Eurasia, Africa, North America and Asia. As of 2021, two species, ''G. annectens'' and possibly ''G. subtapiroideum'', are also kno ...

''-like proboscidean was also present.

References

Entelodonts Oligocene even-toed ungulates Oligocene mammals of Asia Fossil taxa described in 1964 Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub