Entelodont

From Freepedia

Entelodon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Entelodontidae
Genus:Entelodon

Entelodonts were extinct relatives of modern pigs and other hoofed animals. They ranged across Asia and North America 45 to 25 million years ago. They stood seven feet tall and had a brain the size of a fist.They were scavengers(they ate dead animals)and they also ate plants.

Partial skeletons are commonly found in the Hsanda Gol fossil beds of Mongolia, but there are much better preserved and very similar fossils found in North America.


Many of their skulls have very severe wounds, some have gashes upto 2cm deep in the bone between the eyes that could only have been inflicted by other entelodonts during conflict. In fact it seems to have been quite common for one to fit another's head entirely in its mouth! The bony lumps all over their faces, like those of modern warthogs, were perfectly placed to protect delicate areas during these fights. This seems to have worked well as even very scarred entelodonts show no damage to the protected eyes or nose. Their huge skulls were enormously powerful and designed to crush bones. Many teeth marked bones are found in fossil beds with entelodonts. They were clearly scavengers and probably ate anything that they came across. Their thickly enamelled teeth are often broken, and also show marks suggesting they chewed vines and exposed roots for water in the dry season.

Entelodonts followed huge herds of prehistoric mammals, eating the dead and occasionally killing their own prey. Entelodonts also probably spent some time driving predators such as Hyenadon (a Creodont) off their kills.



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