Paraentelodon

Pa-ra-en-tel-o-don.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Paraentelodon ‭(‬Near perfect tooth‭)‬.

Phonetic

Pa-ra-en-tel-o-don.

Named By

Gabunia‭ ‬-‭ ‬1964.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Artiodactyla,‭ ‬Entelodontidae.

Diet

Omnivore‭?

Species

P.‭ ‬macrognathus

Size

Around‭ ‬2‭ ‬meters tall.

Known locations

Asia.

Time Period

Oligocene through to Burdigalian of the Miocene.

Fossil representation

Several specimens.

In Depth

       Although not‭ ‬especially one of the most well-known of the entelodonts,‭ ‬Paraentelodon is one of the largest known genera being comparable to Entelodon and Daeodon in size.‭ ‬Paraentelodon appears in Asia as the earlier Entelodon began to decline and continues to be largest currently known genus of entelodont in Asia in the early stages of the Miocene.‭ ‬Daeodon also seems to have held a similar ecological niche‭ ‬as Paraentelodon during the early Miocene,‭ ‬but is so far only known from North America.

       The exact diets of entelodonts have always been subjects of debate for palaeontologists because although they may have been capable of eating plants,‭ ‬the larger ones such as Paraentelodon may have used their large size to either kill other animals or intimidate other predators into giving up their kills.‭

Further Reading

Further reading- The Evolution of Artiodactyls. – The Johns Hopkins University Press. – Donald R. Prothero & Scott E. Foss – 2007.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT