Achaenodon

Achaenodon was a large mammal around the size of a pig with a body mass of around . The skull had a relatively short muzzle and wide (laterally expanded) expanded zygomatic arches, making the skull nearly as wide as it was long. There was a very high sagittal crest, which connected later to an expanded nuchal crest; these two structures, together with the large cheekbone arches, indicate that the musculature of the jaws was extremely powerful. The teeth of Achenodon were bunodont and quite large in size. The dental formula was the primitive (ancestral) condition of artiodactyls with three incisors, a canine, four premolars and three molars; the first lower premolar was present in juveniles but were absent in adults. The upper molars had greatly thickened enamel. The limbs were short, with the forelimbs being slightly shorter than the hind limbs, with the manus having four digits. ==Classification==

First described in 1873 by Edward Drinker Cope, Achaenodon is best known for fossil remains from the Wyoming Middle Eocene. The type species is Achaenodon insolens. Other species are known, from California, Oregon (A. fremdi), Utah (A. uintense), and Wyoming (A. robustus). Archaenodon has generally either been assigned to the family Helohyidae, Older literature placed Achaenodon in Entelodontidae proper, though this is most likely not accurate. == Ecology ==

Achaeonodon was probably an omnivore that consumed both vegetation as well as possibly carrion. == References ==