Giant North American ‘hell pigs’ could crunch bones like lions 30 million years ago, tooth analysis reveals
North America’s giant “hell pigs” may have been munching on bones around 30 million years ago, while their smaller counterparts tore through softer materials, like flesh, new research suggests.
The “pigs from hell”, scientifically known as Archaeotherium (“ancient beast” in Greek), were a group of pig-like creatures that could be as large as humans while standing on four legs and potentially weigh more than 2,000 pounds (1,000 kilograms).
“We cannot assume that they were doing the same thing,” Brynn Wootendoctoral student at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told Live Science.
Wooten presented preliminary results of his research Thursday, Nov. 13, at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. The results have not yet been peer-reviewed, as Wooten and his colleagues have yet to complete their research and submit it to a journal.
Pig Whale
Archaeotherium roamed North America approximately 37 to 23 million years ago. Despite their vaguely porcine appearance, Archaeotherium was more closely related to whales and hippos than to pigs. Their heads made up about 30% of their total body length (this varied between species), but their small brains meant they weren’t the brightest tools in the Paleogene shed.
“Archaeotherium “They have a brain-to-body mass ratio similar to reptiles, so they were very unintelligent creatures,” Wooten said. “Their heads were massive, but they had tiny little brain cases.”
Researchers have previously suggested that Archaeotherium These could be active predators, scavengers and/or vegetation strippers. Bite marks on fossils of Poebrotherium — small related camels that once roamed North America — indicate that Archaeotherium maybe have hunted Poebrotherium and stored some carcasses for leftovers.
For the new research, Wooten and Larisa DeSantisassociate professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, examined a variety of Archaeotherium teeth from various states, including Nebraska, South Dakota, Oregon and Colorado. Using dental microwear texture analysis, which involves creating 3D scans of the tooth surface with a powerful microscope, they were able to compare the variation in wear between different Archaeotherium teeth.
Overall, Archaeotherium was generally similar to peccaries (pig-like animals found in the Americas), which shear their food. However, wear it on the bigger ones Archaeotherium was statistically indistinguishable from that of lions and hyenas and indicated an animal that was crushing its food.
“It’s really interesting that the bigger ones are able to break bones,” DeSantis told Live Science. “Little ones aren’t.”
The overwhelming attrition could mean that larger species engaged in scavenging behaviors, potentially using their large size to intimidate other predators and prevent them from killing, the researchers suggested. On the other hand, more Archaeotherium could have consumed more hard vegetarian foods, such as tubers or woody plants. The soft vegetarian option for little ones Archaeotherium perhaps it was leaves and grass.
Until now, dental analysis only reveals the texture of Archaeotherium the food – not the species they ate. Wooten will now explore other research techniques, including calcium isotope analysisto confirm if the bone was part of Archaeotheriumthe diet.
