Entelodont

Entelodonts Temporal range: 37.2–16.3 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Eocene - Early Miocene
Daeodon skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Clade:	Cetancodontamorpha
Family:	†Entelodontidae Lydekker, 1883
Genera
†Archaeotherium †Brachyhyops †Cypretherium †Daeodon †Entelodon †Eoentelodon †Paraentelodon †Proentelodon
Synonyms
Elotheridae

Entelodonts — sometimes facetiously termed hell pigs or terminator pigs — are an extinct family of pig-like omnivores of the forests and plains of North America, Europe, and Asia from the middle Eocene to early Miocene epochs (37.2—16.3 million years ago), existing for about 21 million years.

The Entelodontidae were named by Richard Lydekker and assigned to Nonruminantia by Gregory (1910). They were then assigned to Artiodactyla by Lucas et al. (1998) and to Entelodontoidea by Carroll (1988) and Boisserie et al. (2005). While entelodonts have long been classified as members of the Suina, Spaulding et al. have found them to be closer to whales and hippos than to pigs.

Entelodonts are an extinct group of rather pig-like omnivorous mammals 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 m (6.9 ft) tall at the shoulder, with brains the size of an orange.

A single specimen recorded by M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist for body mass was estimated to have a weight of 421 kg (930 lb).

Entelodonts had full sets 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.

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