ARCHAEOTHERIUM SKULL

Archaeotherium Skull. Replica. Oliogocene entelodont, a pig-like artiodactyl of the White River Formation, South Dakota. 20x13x11in/51x33x28cm.


Archaeotherium (Greek, "Ancient Beast") is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl found in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming. It was a relative of javelinas and other ungulates. In life, it probably resembled a large, fanged, javelina with bumps sticking out of the side of its head.

The largest species, A. mortoni was an aggressive, cow-sized apex predator. Rhino jaws and other mammal bones have been found with bite marks on them that match the large canines of A. mortoni. A fossil trackway in Toadstool Park depicts the path of a Subhyracodon walking forward, stopping to see an Archaeotherium come at it, then breaking into a gallop with the ferocious entelodont hot on its heels. In leaner times, it is suggested that Archaeotherium dug for roots and tubers, as with other pig-like mammals.