Palaeontology

Enormous prehistoric 'hell pigs' munched on bones and flesh alike

By T.K. Randall
November 14, 2025 ·  0 comments

Image: Pig (illustrative)
Credit: Steven Lek / (PD) According to new findings, a species of enormous pig known as Archaeotherium had different ways of feeding depending on how large any given individual happened to be.

The species, which was first discovered in 1850, weighed more than 2,000lbs, stood up to 6ft in height and lived in what is now North America around 30 million years ago.

Despite their pig-like features, these creatures were actually more closely related to whales and hippos that modern pigs.

"Archaeotherium has a brain-to-body mass ratio similar to that of reptiles, so they were very unintelligent creatures," Vanderbilt University's Brynn Wooten told Live Science.

"Their heads were massive, but they had little tiny brain cases."According to recent findings, the largest of these animals would have munched on bones, while the smaller ones would have ripped through softer materials (including flesh).

The research suggests that the larger ones may have used their enormous size to scavenge existing kills by bullying their way past smaller predators.

The smaller ones, meanwhile, may have preferred to eat plants and vegetables.

Further study will be required, however, to determine exactly what these animals were dining upon.

"We can't assume that they were doing the same thing," said Wooten.

Source: Live Science | Comments (0)

Tags: Pigs