Eoentelodon

Name: Eoentelodon ‭(‬Dawn perfect tooth‭)‬.
Phonetic: E-oh-en-tel-o-don.
Named By: Carroll‭ ‬-‭ ‬1988.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Artiodactyla,‭ ‬Entelodontidae.
Species: E. orientalis.
Diet: Omnivore‭?
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: China.
Time period: Mid Eocene.
Fossil representation: Partial remains.

       Eoentelodon was a relatively small and early genus of entelodont that acquired its name from its early appearance on the landscape before the much larger Entelodon.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬its validity as a valid genus has been disputed,‭ ‬most specifically in a‭ ‬2004‭ ‬study by Lucas and Emry which saw the genus being declared to be a synonym to the related Brachyhyops from North America.‭ ‬However in‭ ‬2007‭ ‬this claim was countered by I.‭ ‬Vislobokova in an observation that not only is Eoentelodon different to Brachyhyops but that it is similar to Proentelodon.‭ ‬For this reason some researchers still list Eoentelodon as a valid genus while others continue to list it as a synonym.

Further reading
- Eoentelodon—a New Primitive Entelodon from the Eocene of Lunan, Yunnan. - Vertebr. Palasiat. 2(1), 30–34. - M. Chow - 1958.
- The oldest representative of Entelodontoidea (Artiodactyla, Suiformes) from the Middle Eocene of Khaichin Ula II, Mongolia, and some evolutionary features of this superfamily. - Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal (Paleontological Journal). 42 (6): 643–654. - I. A. Vislobokova - 2008.

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