Andrew Davis> Ooo-wee!

If you saw this beastly looking Hell Hog out in the wild?

Take my word for it.

You'd want to keep your distance.

Steve Fields> Well, just look at it.

They were very fearsome, and, if you'll pardon, perhaps if you were to encounter one of these things, what might be the first word out of your mouth!

Daeodon, which this species being portrayed here that's what it's called.

Which, incidentally means "Hostile Tooth"... Davis> As fearsome as dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex and Utahraptor were they would not remain the top predators forever.

When the dinosaurs disappeared over 65 million years ago, this opening of new ecological niches during the Cenozoic era caused a boom for the evolution of mammals, with the appearance of newer, larger creatures... As well as new predators.

Around 38 million years ago, South Carolina was in what was known as the late Eocene era.

And then this era, a new, fearsome predator arrived on the scene.

It was big... It was aggressive, and it could deliver a nasty, bone crushing bite.

My name is Andrew Davis, and in today's episode of Curiosity Trek!, we are going up to the Museum of York County, in Rock Hill, South Carolina, about an hour and a half from Columbia.

In its "Before the Ice Ages" exhibit, the museum has on display a replica of what one of these gnarly beasts looked like in its day.

This is the Daeodon, the largest of the Entelodont species.

And this species' nickname was "The Hell Pig".

Joining us to enlarge upon the life of these Hell Pigs is Curator of Natural History, Dr.

Steve Fields.

Steve Fields> I'm Dr.

Steve Fields, I'm the Curator of Natural History for the Culture and Heritage Museums.

Davis> Hey, Dr.

Steve, thanks for joining us today on Curiosity Trek!.

Fields> My pleasure, Andrew.

Davis> Now, in what time periods or years was the Entelodont alive?

Fields> Well, the time periods, late Eocene through the middle Miocene.

So you're talking about 38 million years ago up until about 15 million years ago.

The Entelodont came in.

at the end of what's called the Eocene epoch that would have been characterized by what you would call a hothouse or greenhouse climate.

Imagine, it's so hot that there are no ice caps at the poles, and the oceans are at an all time high level.

That's when they started.

Entelodonts probably originated in Asia and then migrated to Europe and over into North America.

Davis> What was the lifestyle like for the Entelodonts?

Fields> When you're dealing with fossils, behaviors are sometimes hard to figure.

But again, you compare it to animals that are alive today, maybe somewhat closely related.

Did the animal live in herds?

It's reasonable to assume they did.

We can't say for sure that they did.

And if one Hell Pig is intimidating, a herd of them would certainly be much more so.

Even if they were solitary, they would have spent the day foraging, looking for plants... You know, finding carcasses to scavenge, perhaps doing some active hunting on smaller animals as well.

Daeodon was the largest that have ever been found.

So they would have ranged in size from maybe pig-like creatures up into this size here.

They got to be this large, maybe a little bit larger, and on the order of 1,500 pounds.

There were some pretty ferocious predators in the Entelodont's day.

There were these carnivores.

They weren't cats, but they were saber-tooths.

They were called Nimravids.

And they were a cat-like group of carnivores.

And you also had some creatures called "Bear-Dogs", and you had some true dogs that were called "Bone-Crushing Dogs" because of their teeth.

So any of those might have at least attempted an attack on an Entelodont.

But more than likely, as I said, they probably preyed on the young or weak.

Davis> How many different kinds of Entelodonts are there?

Fields> Well, you know, paleontologists are going to have you know, arguments about this, but there were probably on the order of about 50 different species of these things globally speaking.

Davis> Aside from its massive size, the Daeodon entelodont's most striking features are its teeth, and its wide cheekbones.

Entelodonts were notorious for being highly-aggressive hunters and scavengers.

Now the question probably on everybody's minds: How did this creature earned the nickname "Hell Pig" or "Terminator Pig", where did that come from?

Fields> Well, just look at it!

*Chuckles* They were very fearsome, and if you'll pardon, perhaps if you were to encounter one of these things, what might be the first word out of your mouth!

Daeodon, which this species being portrayed here.

That's what it's called, Daeodon which, incidentally means "Hostile Tooth".

Entelodont actually means "Complete Tooth" or "Complete Dentition" and that comes from the fact that when you look at the skull and you look at the teeth, you see they have a full complement of incisors, canines, premolars, molars, you don't always see that in all of the mammals.

I've always been impressed by the the bony outgrowths on the head, and they are bone that's not flesh.

And so, what were those used for?

And there have been every hypothesis from just simply to make it look more intimidating to actually males, you know, butting their heads in rivalries.

Given their overall body mass and leg structure, they probably could have at least had short bursts of speed upwards of 30 mph.

Davis> So you would not want to be run down by one of these things.

Fields> No.

Definitely not.

*Chuckles* Davis> Despite Entelodonts resembling giant hogs, it may come as a surprise to some that they aren't even related to pigs at all!

Fields> The ancestors of Entelodonts would have appeared like pig-like creatures, somewhat smaller.

But they weren't true pigs.

They are actually more closely related to hippopotamus than anything living today.

They were used to be considered, closely related to pigs because they had a pig-like appearance.

But now we know that's really not the case.

Davis> Now, what factors led to the Entelodont's extinction?

Fields> By the time we get to the Miocene epoch of time, the climate is changing globally.

It's becoming cooler and it's becoming drier, and that's going to affect habitats.

Forests are generally disappearing in favor of, grasslands, or more open habitats, taking over most of the globe, not entirely.

But anytime you get major changes or shifts in climate and environment, if the animals can't adapt or migrate extinction is the only alternative.

and we think that's what happened with Entelodont.

The most productive fossil sites for Entelodonts in North America have been out west in what we would call the Badlands regions: Wyoming places like that.

But they have been found in other places- Florida and actually, one type of Daeodon have been found, or at least a partial fossil of a jaw have been found in South Carolina.

Davis> Where in South Carolina?

Fields> Dorchester County, that region close to maybe Charleston in what they call the Ashley Phosphate Beds along the Ashley River.

Davis> Dr.

Fields encourages visitors to come visit the York County Cultural Heritage Museum not just to see their Entelodont, but their other exhibits as well to capture multiple glimpses or "snapshots" into South Carolina's prehistoric times.

Fields> I hope that visitors come here and see not only this exhibit, but some of our others and they realize, you know what we see today in our "big backyard" is just a snapshot in time.

and that over millions of years, the Carolinas, the place we call home, have changed drastically.

And the creatures that have lived here are just, marvelous in the way they looked, the way they behaved.

Yes, there were dinosaurs here and everybody loves dinosaurs but, don't discount the large mammals that came after the dinosaurs.

Davis> Well Dr.

Steve, thank you for taking the time to talk with us today!

I really enjoyed our conversation.

Fields> My pleasure.

Andrew.

Davis> Although the Hell Pig was one of the top predators in this snapshot into South Carolina's history, we hope you enjoyed today's stop to see the York County Museum's Daeodon entelodont.

I bet you'll never look at hippos in a zoo the same way ever again knowing now that these Entelodonts are ancestors.

I certainly didn't find the trip... "Boar-ing" at all, did you?

I'm Andrew Davis, and I cannot help but wonder where we shall go next?