Daeodon

Skeleton of a Daeodon

Daeodon earlier than Dinohyus: means ( German horrible pig), is an extinct mammal. It lived from the Oligocene to early Miocene and was one of the Entelodontidae, a likewise extinct family of large pig -like cloven-hoofed animals.

External features

Daeodon was three meters long, reaching two meters shoulder height. The head was extremely large, almost a meter long, but the brain was compared rather small. He had quite a long, slender limbs, suggesting that he could run pretty fast and are therefore likely to actively hunted. He reached a total weight of one ton and had strong tusks. His shoulders were very muscular to hold the heavy head upright. As with a real predator 's eyes were directed to the front, the field of view, therefore, probably overlapped.

Way of life

Daeodon supported himself as its living relatives today from the group of pig -like of various plants, carrion and small animals. He chased probably active because of his physique. Maybe he was hunting in groups. But also for utilizing carrion he was perfect. His mouth had a knochenzermahlende force.

Locations

Fossil specimens of the genus have been found in North America. The first one found lower jaw bone from the John Day Fossil Beds were described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1879 as Daeodon. Later, the curator of the Carnegie Museum, OA Peterson found in the Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska a complete copy. He called it Dinohyus 1905 and gave him the names of species Hollandi, after the family name of the former director of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, William Jacob Holland.

Swell

• David Lambert: Encyclopedia of dinosaurs and other animals of prehistoric times. Dorling Kindersley, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8310-0342-4, pp. 264-265.