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ARCHAEOTHERIUM
(ar-kee-o-fee-re-um)
meaning: "Ancient beast"
Archaeotherium
Named By: Joseph Leidy in 1850
Time Period: Late Eocene to Early Oligocene,38-24.8 Ma
Location: Canada & USA
Size: 2 meters long, 1.2 meters tall at the shoulder
Diet: Carnivore/Possibly omnivore
Fossil(s): Multiple specimens
Classification: | Chordata | Mammalia | Artiodactyla | Entelodontidae |
Also known as: | Eotherium | Pelonax | Scaptohyus |
About

Archaeotherium (Greek: arkhaiotherion, meaning "ancient beast") is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl endemic to North America during the Eocene and Oligocene epochs (38--24.8 mya), existing for approximately 6 million years. Archaeotherium was about 1.2m tall at the shoulder and around 2m long and weighing around 270 kg.

Although superficially pig-like, Archaeotherium, along with all other entelodonts, was more closely related to anthracotheres, hippopotamuses, and whales. Evidence from the Wyoming Dinosaur Center suggests that the omnivorous Archaeotherium, like many modern predatory mammals, kept caches of food for times when their hunting was less successful.

Read more about Archaeotherium at Wikipedia
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