Archaeotherium

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Archaeotherium Fossil range: Early Oligocene
Archaeotherium mortoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: †Entelodontidae Genus: †Archaeotherium

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.

Evidence from the Wyoming Dinosaur Center suggests that Archaeotherium,like modern carnivores, had stashes of food when their hunting was unsuccessful. These bones have been found to be mainly made up of Poebrotherium.

Their fossils were first described by Joseph Leidy in 1850.