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''Entelodon'' (meaning "complete teeth", from
''Entelodon'' was a fairly typical
Google Books
/ref> Its long, wide head was supported by a robust, short neck, and its
''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, Paleobiology Database:Entelodon dirus
/ref>
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 p ...
''entelēs'' "complete" and ''odōn'' "tooth", referring to its "complete" eutherian dentition), is an extinct genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of 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 millio ...
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 ...
. 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 (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 that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
China, '' 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'' of mid to late Oligocene Central Asia.
Description
''Entelodon'' was a fairly typical 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 millio ...
, 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, wher ...
s, 1 canine, 3 premolars, 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 froGoogle 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, 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, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. 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 ...
./ref>
See also
*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