Entelodon
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Entelodon
a genus of fossil swinelike mammals of the Oligocene. The animals were the size of hippopotamuses, measuring approximately 2 m in height at the withers. The skull was long (about 1 m), with a well-developed parietal crest, as in predators. The teeth included long, pointed incisors, large canines, cutting premolars, and nodular molars. The lateral digits in Entelodon were drastically reduced, and the animals were functionally didactylous, a fact established by V. O. Kovalevskii. They were distinguished from true swine by their more predatory way of life. The animals were widely distributed in Eurasia.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.