The discovery of the terrorist pig, Daeodon, can be traced back to the 1870s, when the United States, which had just ended its civil war, began another “war”, the “Bone Wars” . The era of fierce and cruel fossils hunting and exploring in the Gilded Era of American history, was marked by a fierce competition between Edward Drinker Story and Othniel Charles Marsh.
Two famous paleontologists Edward Drinker and Othniel Charles Marsh scrambled to find and name fossils they unearthed, such as Stegosaurus and other famous ancient creatures such as Brontosaurus, Pteranodon, Tylosaurus . both came from the hands of the two of them.
At that time, scientists often named fossils of prehistoric mammals based on their skull characteristics and the name of this terrorist pig, Daeodon , derived from Greek. is the compound word for ” δαίος” (meaning awful, scary) and “οδον” (meaning teeth), and the creature’s name means terrible teeth because they own fangs. Giant and terrifying remains in fossils.
Because the fossils found were mostly intact, science at the time believed that they were fossils of a strange ungulate and could have a close relationship with an ancient beast named Menodus .
In the 20th century, paleontologists discovered a more complete Daeodon fossil to prove that the creature belonged to the family Entelodontidae (giant pig family) and was able to classify them.
Daeodon, also known as buffalo and killer pig, has a height up to the shoulder reaching 1.8 meters, higher than most adults in Vietnam and possesses a body length of about 3 meters and weighs more than a ton. Viewed from the head of the buffalo pig, this creature is as big as a bison, the largest terrestrial mammal living in North America today.
Pigs not only possess a large body, their skull is also classified into a huge size with a length of up to 0.9 meters, nearly 1/3 of the body length. Their heads are rather frightening in shape, but when any modern creature possesses that shape, we would certainly think of it as a mutant, radioactive species.
From the bone, their skulls can see that buffalo pigs possess extremely powerful jaws and also possess huge teeth with different shapes and functions. Among them, a pair of canine teeth growing in the front is most noticeable, they are thick and sharp, the root is longer than the human hands and that is also the origin for their Daeodon name.
Their jaws include large canines, heavy incisors, and relatively simple, but powerful molars.These features show a omnivorous diet, similar to that of modern pigs.
Like many other animals, they have split hooves, with their toes touching the ground. The characteristic to classify buffalo pigs is not a heavy burden but a skeleton on the sides of their heads, a trace that still exists in some wild boars today.
One characteristic of them that is still retained in some modern boar is that two bones on the sides of the head attached to their jawbone. Paleontologists speculate that the effect of the two bones is to bind muscle bundles and increase bite force in the jaw muscles and can easily crush the bones of prey.
Their necks are short and thick, which are connected directly to the shoulders by strong muscle bundles and make some of the highest points of the body and will slope and shrink towards the back. Below the body of this pig is the long and strong limbs. Like pigs, buffalo pigs have two hooves on their feet, which shows that they are very good at running, all of which make them have a huge and extremely scary appearance.
Daeodon terrorist pigs lived at The Miocene in North America from 29 to 19 million years ago. Their survival time is up to 10 million years, enough to prove how strong their ability to survive is.
The large head and the fearsome giant fangs seem to be typical traits of predators. But in fact, this is an omnivore, paleontologists believe that their main food is plants but sometimes they will become bloodthirsty predators to meet the needs. nutrition of the body.
Paleontologists speculate that the species usually lives in small groups in the plains at The Miocene in North America.With their huge size and ugly appearance, they can always scare other predators and easily steal their spoils.Sometimes, in order to compete for prey, the buffalo pigs will also fight with their fellow humans, paleontologists have found bites left by the teeth of this species on their fossils.
It is the habit of “thieves”, their large bodies and their strength, the unprofessional “predators” have the strength to stand on top of the predators in their era ecosystem.
The last Entelodont died about 19 million years ago. No one knows why they became extinct, but the development of new mammal predators may have something to do with it.