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Name:
Entelodon (Greek for "perfect teeth"); pronounced en-TELL-oh-don; also known as the Killer Pig
Habitat:
Plains of Eurasia
Historical Epoch:
Late Eocene-Middle Oligocene (37-27 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 10 feet long and 1,000 pounds
Diet:
Omnivorous
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Large head with prominent snout; "warts" on cheeks
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About Entelodon (Killer Pig):
Plucked from prehistoric obscurity thanks to its cameos on nature documentaries like Walking with Beasts and Prehistoric Predators, Entelodon has been immortalized as the "Killer Pig," even though (like modern pigs) it ate plants as well as meat.
This megafauna mammal was about the size of a cow, and it had a noticeably (and hugely) pig-like face, with wart-like, bone-supported wattles on its cheeks and an extended snout studded with dangerous-looking teeth. Like many mammals of the Eocene epoch--only 30 million or so years after the dinosaurs went extinct--Entelodon also had an unusually small brain for its size, and was probably not the brightest omnivore on the prehistoric block.