''Eoentelodon'' is a small, primitive

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 m ...

, assigned as such by Carroll (1998), from the Middle

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'', " ...

of China. It was a very small entelodont, about the size of a modern

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 ...

, and was slightly smaller than its North American counterpart, '' Brachyhyops''. ''Eoentelodon'' was synonymized subjectively with ''Brachyhyops'' by Lucas and Emry (2004). However, in 2007, I. Vislobokova determined that ''Eoentelodon'' was not only distinct from ''Brachyhyops'', but more closely related to ''

Proentelodon ''Proentelodon'' is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl from the Middle Eocene of Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Rus ...

'', another primitive entelodont found in slightly older Middle Eocene strata of

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 millio ...

References

Entelodonts Eocene even-toed ungulates Fossils of China Fossil taxa described in 1988 Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub